Cut and Run
by Nights Mistress
Summary: When an undercover mission involving Elli Quinn goes drastically wrong, the only alternative is to cut and run.
1. Default Chapter

Cut and Run  
  
By Perry Tratchett  
  
The club was a high tech grotto, fashioned by lasers carving and explosives detonating back when miners were liberating a rich vein of mineral ores from the rock walls. The cavity was now just jagged facets propped by silicon fibre buttressing; all hidden behind a light show of holographic projections and strobing glare. Auditory and olfactory overload was supplied from a dance/trance deck dominating the middle of the cavern. In the heated atmosphere, a lot of skin was interfacing; much of it spaced enough so the world could end without their knowledge.  
  
Door security stepped aside to admit a lone woman.  
  
Elli Quinn floated across the dance/trance deck, sashaying expertly to the beat. She paused to interface with a few of the more interesting strangers, making moves designed to advertise, without contributing to any libidinous release before she managed to get free of the press. She threw a kiss to a punter that might have been of interesting on another occasion and then left them to it.  
  
She strode lithely through the archway furthest from the entry and found herself in a smoke filled bar. It had been some sort of stockpile left hanging off to one side of the excavation that became the main club and was now the place where deals could be dealt in an atmosphere far removed from the dance/trance addicted crowd that the main bar regularly drew.  
  
As far as Elli was concerned there was only the one novelty in the situation, the lower than accustomed G. Which added a neat line to her anatomy, while offering not much else. It mucked up her balance.  
  
It was time to make an entrance, she decided.  
  
Which was going to be really easy. There was a lot of Elli Quinn's skin on display, but only if a punter could filter out her laser light show, which of course was pretty difficult to ignore. And that was the point really. The show played over her skin like she was the main attraction at a performance artist presentation. It shone onto reflective smears of mirroring arranged strategically around her body.  
  
The light show was never on or off long enough for anyone to work out just what might or might not be there. Sudden movement caused the tracking system a few moments of silicon confusion where the processor would then struggle to aim for the next reflector. The delay made her flesh visible from time to time. Back in the dance/trance bar the light show had been chancy at best, off almost as often as it was on, it's sequencing brought down by intelligent interference patterns provided by the house, specifically for that purpose.  
  
The occasional discontinuity was part of the allure, although males among the bar crowd needed little encouragement to keep them interested in Elli Quinn. She could wear a cassock and they would still look.  
  
Elli cast her eyes about the room, letting her iris adjust to the steady but dim lighting, taking in the atmosphere, the ambience and the attitude, building a picture in her own mind; of who, what, where and how it was on show and who was raring to go. The whole thing settled around her like a glove, or a change of clothing. Her posture changed, the 'free and easy' became 'expert professional.'  
  
Behind the advertising smile, her mind was hard at work.  
  
Can do this in my sleep. She decided before submerging in the role. Cyber- slut at work, oui.  
  
More than a few eyes tracked her entrance with singular interest. She was used to the attention and she ignored it like always. Looks were easy to deal with, it was the more intimate personal contact that might set her into action, explosively if the contact was uninvited, and differently explosive when it was invited.  
  
She judged her fellow man harshly. There was nothing on offer among the patrons; nothing that pushed any of her buttons, not tonight.  
  
Although, in a pinch, the geek in the corner might have been an interesting prospect, she decided. If someone gave him a make over.  
  
He was barely visible across the room, partially hidden by the density of pharmacological shit hanging in the air. Hair too long, worn in the-way- that-it-grew style, not a lot of imagination on display, either in cut, colour or styling. But.  
  
Work to do, Elli.she reminded herself.  
  
The smoke they breathed was a combination of mild hallucinogens, euphorics and a bit of the old nitrogen and oxygen mix. A read out from the chem analysis gear built into Elli's ear-eye piece lased the data directly into her eye. She read the atmospheric details and then she considered their consequences carefully. Breathing euphorics meant the rest of the bar crowd would be primed for the night. She wondered about its effect on her contact, decided that the assistance might make the work of the evening easy and then again.  
  
Her silhouette had filled the archway for a while, attracting the attention of all the grotto's occupants.  
  
Elli frowned for a moment and then addressed her comm unit. "Admiral," she transmitted back through the station comm network to the Denadrii Fleet, currently in dry-dock for a bit of armoury adjustment. Admiral Miles Naismith was actually on the bridge, for once, and he was running this operation from the command chair. He usually preferred to operate in a more hands on manner when they made one of these extraction type raids, in fact getting his hands off the operation this time was a major breakthrough for Elli and she was going to make the most of the opportunity presented. "I can't figure out which one you mean. Not among this lot. You could have given me a description. Should have."  
  
"They wanted discretion," Lieutenant Lord Miles Vorkosigan of Barrayar's Imperial Security service (Impmil for short) answered through the pick-up in her ear. Since finding his way off Barrayar, Miles had spent a great deal of his time playing the role of his alter-ego Admiral Naismith. It was a role that had come upon him by accident and calamity, that he had held onto by hook or by crook ever since. Not many of his crew knew the truth, and he was intent on keeping it that way. Hardly a man or woman among them knew they were something other than genuine space borne mercenaries. "They'll contact you."  
  
"Oh wonderful," she muttered. Only Miles heard. The noise from the dance bar behind her still overwhelmed all but the most strenuous attempts at speech. "I can't afford to wait around here all night waiting for the right bunny to hop over. We better speed the process up a bit, otherwise it'll blow up big time."  
  
"See if we can guess," Miles offered.  
  
"You don't have any clue either?" she scoffed. "I can't believe this. How are we supposed to do this job if we don't get all the data?"  
  
"It's how they wanted it done. OK? We're the gumbies here. They're the customer. Who're we to argue with them. We're just the Denardii Free Mercenaries after all."  
  
"You must have some idea."  
  
"Not sure," Miles admitted.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"We should be able to work it out."  
  
"Then."  
  
"Process of elimination OK? Pan the camera a round. Let me see the crowd. Give me optical recognition and I'll down load their data from the local web."  
  
By now most of the bar-flies had taken an active interest in her, as well they might. Not just idle aesthetic appreciation any more, their brains were engaged now, speculating. Thing was, Elli would have been thoroughly annoyed if they hadn't taken an active interest. It was the sort of image she worked hard to portray. when it was required.  
  
She completed the pan of the bar, transmitting the video image to Miles.  
  
"You get all that?" she transmitted.  
  
"Yeah, let you know what I find. Be a sec."  
  
He took longer than that, but not a great deal.  
  
"Here are the likelier ones." Miles produced an itemised list. "Need to check each a bit more thoroughly."  
  
Elli read the report suspended before her eyes and checked the data against her surroundings. Most of the crowd was eliminated immediately, known for what they were, a few remained unknowns. Biometric recognition gave them nothing.  
  
Embedded in the far corner was a couple of men, they appeared thoroughly absorbed in each other. Betans probably, Elli judged. The light was dim and their features were hard to make out. She focussed on them for a moment; waiting for an indication to come through that Miles had a make on them.  
  
"You could be less conspicuous," Miles suggested. "Move into the room and make like a bar-fly."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yeah, that one."  
  
"Miles, this is one thing I know more about than you do. I'm playing courtesan here, remember. Cyber-slut has to advertise," she put on an accent. "Don't get no business if no one knows you're there. Got to make an en-trance."  
  
"Elli, there ain't any one in that bar that doesn't know that you're there."  
  
"Then it worked." She smiled to herself.  
  
"Got a make on those two," Miles transmitted. "Not them. Couple of holiday-makers, slumming, long term relationship, short term visit. Get more faces for me."  
  
Elli stepped into the bar and sashayed across the floor to a slightly more secluded corner. Eyes followed her. She made another sweep with the camera. "Would have said that it wasn't them myself."  
  
"You want me to keep helping?"  
  
"Of course. It's always good to get a cross check."  
  
She selected a table, alone so she could make the invitation obvious when she made it. She pulled up at a table, swung herself around so she had her back to the wall and gazed around the room again. The scan was in character. Now she just had to deal with the constant stream of hopefuls. She sat. The chair was cold and sort of sticky against the bare patches of her skin.  
  
Around her the music and light show pounded on. Acoustic shielding separating the rooms, isolating the 'seating, selecting and dealing' bar from the 'vertical interfacing and selecting' bar, was partially successful.  
  
Seated Elli lost a few of her audience, but not many. She was the subject of a few discussions.  
  
A waiter broke away from the bar and headed her way. She watched his approach carefully.  
  
"Not him," said the little disembodied voice in her ear.  
  
"Pretty much my thinking."  
  
"Give me the rest of the room."  
  
Elli nodded to herself. The gesture was picked up by Miles, the viewpoint would have wobbled up and down alarmingly.  
  
"Figuring it to be either the dolly by the bar, or the geek over by the corner," Elli said finally.  
  
"More intuition?"  
  
"They don't look like a part of this crowd. You know how it can be?"  
  
"Give me something on them."  
  
Elli focussed on the Geek. Straight brown hair combed neatly, worn too long for easy maintenance, but not long enough to be a style. His face was pale, lacked definition, although that could be a function of the lighting in the bar. His eyes darted around alarmingly. He wore a tight fitting suit in last year's cut, pale brown shade. Fit well, looked good on him.  
  
The waiter hovered nearby, partially blocking her view.  
  
Miles dithered over the geek.  
  
"What's best?" Elli asked the waiter, turning on her best 'interested' smile.  
  
"I have an offer from a customer," the waiter intoned. His voice was dead. Construct? Elli wondered, and then shrugged, she didn't care, Jackson's Whole supplied them to this sector. If the bar bought indentured people from that thieves nest, that was their business. "He wants to know what you would take."  
  
"Tell him I'm on a break. Ask that he make the offer in a half an hour's time."  
  
"Very well."  
  
"Give me a juice. Grapefruit." The waiter marched away.  
  
Miles gagged at her choice.  
  
"Shut up. What do you think of the geek?"  
  
"Marked as a distinct prospect," Miles continued. "Been here long enough to have collected data, but no records of any significance on him. Data- cipher. Real possible."  
  
"OK, I'll mark him. Hey, maybe he was the one who offered to buy for me."  
  
"Plausible. What about the dolly?" Miles asked.  
  
The girl by the bar might as well have been naked from Elli's viewpoint. Long legs, long arms, straight back, blonde hair cropped short and fluffed. Sort of the same image that Elli was cultivating. A real cyber-slut! Although she was as pale as.  
  
The dolly looked idly around the bar, her face set in an intent expression rather than the welcoming vacuity of the typical dolly pose. She looked toward Elli momentarily and then away.  
  
Not happy at the competition? Elli couldn't tell.  
  
That brief glance was enough to freeze an image of ethereal beauty, pouted mouth, wide eyes, and slender up-turned nose. The package was a testimony to the artisans who manufactured her.  
  
She wore a large sunflower stuck to breasts impossibly full, sited too high to be natural. Elli knew the rest of the outfit. The girls on this station all wore them this year. Stick-ons, cheap, easy to get off, easy to get on, easy to get past, just the shot for a working girl in a hurry. Elli's laser show was the next level up the market, you didn't have to take it off at all, just switch it off. Too expensive for most artisans.  
  
"Which?" Elli asked Miles  
  
"Yeah, could be either," the gnat voice answered. "She's not on record here at all."  
  
"Wonderful. Just what we need. Confusion in identification."  
  
"Gotta be sure."  
  
"We could take 'em both," Elli suggested hopefully.  
  
"Might not even be them."  
  
A bark escaped through Elli's lips. "Who else could it be? The rest of this crowd is either typical night-trippers out for a fantasy before going back to the same old, same-old, or they're here selling them the means, you know. The dolly's on her own. So's the geek. Neither's right. Geeks hunt in packs. Dolly's last about two seconds between contacts here, that's the nature of the place."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"They're wrong. Trust me."  
  
"They might be wrong for other reasons."  
  
"OK. I'll meet them, find out."  
  
"Leave than to you."  
  
"Done, Quinn out."  
  
"Naismith out." 


	2. Chapter 2

In any hit and run extraction, timing was essential. Perforce Elli Quinn worked fast; always had, it was her metier. But having a pair of possible candidates was a rare treat, oh yeah. Made it real important to guess right and get on with it. Worst thing was neither of them seemed interested in making themselves obvious. If one of them was the client - and one of them had to be - then they were rank amateurs, and that was something Elli could do without. They gave no sort of signal at all. She was going to be forced to make some of the running herself.  
  
While Miles explained the rudiments of reptilian pest control through the comm link, Elli established eye contact with the geek, he being the easier of the two to contact. All she had to do was just flash a few teeth and wait for the next move. There was too little time to let things take their natural course though. She had to push it along. There was only the one thing that might help make the ident. Miles had been given codes. If the geek gave her the codes then he was out of there, otherwise, he was kicked to the kerb and Elli got after the dolly.  
  
So subtlety was out.  
  
Across the room from her, the geek was working up the nerve, she could see it in the way he looked across the room at her, it was sort of furtive but growing bolder when she gave no sign of dismissal in her returned gaze. In a moment she was going to smile and make the connection. She knew the game, but it made not a jot of difference to the way it was conducted. It needed all the steps. She could do them quickly, but she couldn't skip any.  
  
And she certainly didn't need what followed.  
  
"Elli," Miles' voice loaded into her ear. "Problems."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The sensitivity of the microwave radar just changed. The alarm threshold just went up."  
  
"Hackers?"  
  
"Yeah, more of." Meaning on top of the Dendarii's little bits and bytes.  
  
"How far?"  
  
"Enough to allow someone to carry."  
  
Weapons! "Oh! In here? This place is full of people." Elli had come into the bar unarmed so the security system would admit her, and now this.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Elli looked around at the bar, searching for the places where she might bolt if it got ugly. A box full of people and smoke. As if he was suddenly aware that things were getting urgent the geek tipped his drink at her from across the room. Elli smiled back automatically. Time to act. Like it's not complicated enough.  
  
"Other military," Miles advised. "Got 'em."  
  
Not great timing. Damn! The geek was deciding to come across. She had to keep her reaction to this conversation off her face.  
  
"Who?" she asked, and then made a smile at the geek, had to keep the act running. In the poor lighting and the euphoric filled air, she hoped her expression was not recognisable for the grimace that it was. She waved subtly at him to make sure.  
  
"Not completely sure," Miles told her. "but I'd be betting on Cetagandans."  
  
Oh, eeerrr, thought Elli. Not good news. That was something that Elli didn't want to deal with just now - if ever. She certainly did not want to deal with the sort of mess that seemed to pile up while they were on the case. No way, not before and certainly not at that particular moment.  
  
The Ghem were good at what they did. Professional prep, and occasional ruthless execution. That was the Cetagandans in a nutshell.  
  
"They part of a team?" she asked Miles  
  
Across the room, the geek raised his glass to her and smiled back. She played the part with only half of her attention.  
  
"Yeah," Miles continued. "I haven't made all the members, but they look like they're accompanied. The pair of them wouldn't be in talking range of each other if they weren't."  
  
Even worse news. "Where?" Decisions had to be made.  
  
"Main bar."  
  
"OK. They headed this way?"  
  
"Not yet. They're still casing the place. Getting into position."  
  
"How long before?"  
  
"Ten minutes max."  
  
"We stay in?"  
  
"Yeah. I'll give you warning if we have to abort."  
  
"Might be too short."  
  
"All I can give you. Not as though I'm running them as well."  
  
"Wouldn't listen to you even if you did."  
  
The geek had climbed to his feet while Elli was distracted by the conversation. He was already on his way over. She took a deep breath. It was time to get into character.  
  
"Buy me some time," she said distractedly. "I'm on in a minute."  
  
"How?"  
  
"That's your part, OK. Today I do the physical stuff, you do the thinking."  
  
"Touche," after a delay, he came back. "Got an idea," he said. "I'm going to blow the bar."  
  
"Hey," Elli complained, and then realised what he meant. He was going to release an artificial pheromone into the euphoric distribution. Tailored pheromones induced arousal among many of the crowd. Stuff you could pick up on Jackson's Whole if you had the money. The protective gear came at a high price. Trust the Betans to play the monetary side of the personal interaction game. "You can do that?"  
  
"I think so," Miles replied with a total lack of certainty, "yeah. The cocktail is all there to mix it up."  
  
"Oh this'll be fun," she smiled. "I want to watch."  
  
"Just keep out of trouble. Leave this to us. You're going to be too busy over the next few minutes to worry about what I'm doing."  
  
The quality of the lighting changed, throwing Elli momentarily into shadow. She looked up just in time for her introduction.  
  
"I could mistake you for Hathor," the geek said.  
  
"Who?" Elli asked through the ear-eye to Miles "Why thank you," she said out loud.  
  
"Egyptian goddess," Miles replied, "of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Daughter wife, you name it, of Ahman Ra."  
  
"Lovely sort, no wonder they all looked like dogs. We're on then?" Keep to ancient gods that was the code. It was the sum total of all their contact instructions. Their contact would follow suit.  
  
"Looks that way," C.D replied doubtfully.  
  
"I'll take that for a compliment," Elli told the geek. "If you match up to Ra."  
  
"Can I offer you a drink?" he asked. If she said boo at this point the guy looked like he would run a mile. She smiled, and watched him relax. Oh, this is going to be easy.  
  
"Certainly," Elli said and smiled a wider and even more false grin. "I'll have the same again." She showed him the empty glass.  
  
At the bar the dolly frowned across at Elli.  
  
Something wasn't right there, but Elli didn't have enough time to worry about that.  
  
The geek dropped into a chair, spreading his legs around the chair back and leaning on it with crossed arms. He seemed reasonably relaxed now that she had invited him to join her. Elli smiled encouragement at him. Seen at close quarters he was younger than she first thought. His features were mature, but the lines beneath his eyes and at the corners of his mouth were still soft. Might be as old as twenty-five, not much more.  
  
Up close the tight fitting business suit set his body off well, Elli decided. It was tighter across his shoulders and looser at the waist than the standard suit cut. Couldn't ask for more, except his eyes were sort of soft and tended to open slightly wider than most people's. It didn't make him look gormless - although it might have done - instead it made him look like he was interested, paying attention to what she had to say. His mouth was sensuous, expressive and seemed to smile easily. This might actually be fun, Elli decided. And then she concluded that if he wasn't her contact he didn't have any need to approach a dolly at all. If he wanted girls, all he had to do was talk for a bit and let them decide to invite him. She twitched, to make completely sure that the light show struggled to keep her covered, but only for the briefest possible, let him have a look at the merchandise. Only the one look. Had to play this just right.  
  
"What's your name?" the geek asked her.  
  
She told him, truthfully. He repeated it, pronouncing it badly. She had heard worse attempts. and better. lots better.  
  
She raised her half-empty glass. "Your name?"  
  
"Lucas," he told her after a delay. Obviously a lie. "Preston."  
  
"Well Lucas Preston, why aren't you out there with the other revellers?" Elli asked, pointing her glass at the other bar, where the rest of the working geeks were letting off steam.  
  
"I'm filling in time before making a deal," the Lucas explained, he drained the last of his drink and looked at his empty glass critically. "How long do I have you for?"  
  
To the point, if nothing else, she decided. She looked at him more closely, trying to gain a better impression of him. He might not be the protected novice she took him for when she saw him across the room. There was a greater impression of alertness to him, in the way he watched her and the way he looked at the rest of the bar around them.  
  
It was time to join in the code fun. "It's all up to Aphrodite," Elli said blandly.  
  
"Aw yuck, crude," commented Miles through the ear-eye connection. Elli ignored him.  
  
The geek's eyebrows raised. "We could await the presence of Ra, bypass the realm of Ahman?"  
  
Sounds of someone being sick came through the ear-eye. It was all Elli could do not to burst out laughing. The geek took her smile the right way. Hopefully?  
  
So translating what he said.  
  
All night, wait for the new day. Might be the code and it might just be acceptance of the direction her banter appeared to be going. She had to make sure.  
  
"I am happy to take that kind of offer," Elli conceded. "I promise Olympia." She smiled at him, to mock her own words.  
  
"I am going to pay out on this big time," Miles commented. "This is priceless." Ignoring him was getting harder.  
  
The geek nodded thoughtfully. "So long as Mars doesn't make an appearance."  
  
Miles's laughter threatened to reduce Elli's concentration the broken shards.  
  
"Join me," Elli suggested. "You may as well be comfortable while I drink that drink you're buying for me."  
  
When the Geek claimed a need to empty his bladder Elli took advantage of the break in the conversation to link back to Miles. She watched the geek walk away with an appreciative air. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Let Miles make of that what he would, she thought. She knew he was watching the telemetry reports of her vitals, knew he could put two and two together and work out what she was thinking. Probably didn't need gear to be able to do that. While her second drink got warmer, but not any smaller, Elli began planning her way out of the bar.  
  
"How are we doing?" she transmitted to Miles  
  
"You're playing this role very well," he commented. "Almost had me fooled."  
  
"Moi" She spun the glass around sloshing the liquid about, thoughtful. "You on line ready to pull out?" she asked. She was seriously worried about the approach of the alternate team of mercs - Cetagandan. Erk, why did it have to be them, of all possible competition?  
  
Miles chuckled in her ear. "Flight plan filed ages ago."  
  
After his first few little commentary notes, Miles had kept out of the conversation, and hadn't kept her up to date on events in the outside world, letting her make her play for the geek without distractions. But now she had to make decisions. Miles might do strategy, but in a field op like this, Elli had to do the tactics.  
  
"Where are the Cetagandans hanging?" she asked.  
  
"Still mingling. They look a bit lost out there. I'm about ready to release the blow. Been holding back to try and find out what they were doing."  
  
"And."  
  
"Still marshalling, I think. I don't think they have an ID, or a location. Look to be just fishing."  
  
That was a relief. "We're on our way, just as soon as he comes back. That might be a good time to release the blow."  
  
"Yeah, not a problem. And Elli," his voice dropped a lot of decibels, "I've been listening to the conversation."  
  
"As you would."  
  
"You're sure he's primed for this? You really sure about him?"  
  
Which was unlike Miles. He normally trusted her judgement on these things. But the question fed right into Elli's nagging concern. She looked around the bar, taking in her surroundings, letting her mind drift free to make whatever associations it might make. Say whatever you liked, Elli was sure that intuition was real. She had played hunches that payed off way too often to doubt it.  
  
And Miles was right to question her. Something was bothering her as well, but she was not able to put her finger on what it might be.  
  
She replayed segments of the conversation between her and the geek. There hadn't been a great deal of it, and what there was had been mostly play acting and hot air, but.  
  
Damn it. Miles was right. There was something missing. She was suddenly worried. The geek was way too passive. Someone looking to be lifted in a Hit and Run would be a bit more active in his questioning, would want to know how it was going to go down, would try to prepare.  
  
While she took a sparing sip from her drink, Elli's eyes tracked the bar, lost in her thoughts. She held her self still as though any physical distraction would drive the thought from her mind. Something at the bar caught Elli's eye. It was just that.  
  
For a moment she just couldn't see it.  
  
The two leather and lace guys in the corner were seriously into each other. Nothing unusual about that. Anything went on when Betans got together.  
  
The rest of the occupants were dealing among them selves, talking, wheeling and haggling.  
  
The bartender was leaning over the bar and speaking with the dolly. The girl was as sleek as.  
  
.and then it dawned on Elli. The dolly was still alone.  
  
"Problems," she transmitted to Miles  
  
"What?"  
  
I've contacted the wrong one, she realised. The dolly was the client. The realisation burst in her head like sunrise. And Elli knew she was right, knew by how it made her feel, by the way she broke out in gooseflesh. How could we screw up like this? We had codes, we had.? She broke off her self- flagellation. There was nothing to be gained.  
  
Her eye found the toilet door. The geek was still in there. So what is he? She wondered. Snout? Back-up? Spoiler? Either one; the op was screwed. Maybe?  
  
She didn't really know enough to make a call like that. Not yet anyway. She needed more data and she needed it fast. Even thought their briefing had been sketchy it had been quite specific on that matter. There was only one target.  
  
So, which of them is the target then? Elli wondered. Both of them? Possible? Or not? Hard to be sure.  
  
Was the dolly just a back up, or was she the primary? She was entirely the wrong shape to be muscle, unlike the geek who just might...  
  
Ah. So.  
  
"It's the dolly," Elli told Miles So much time invested on the wrong one and Cetagandans to worry about. She felt the beginning of a panic and that would not do. Still it down, she told herself. She took a few deep breaths. It felt better, sort of.  
  
"Yeah I was starting to think along that line," Miles agreed carefully. "She could be."  
  
"We're running out of time and options," Elli transmitted and then placed the drink decisively on the table. She had to do something, had to act.  
  
"Bring em both," Miles transmitted. "I've got Taura standing by, ready, in case you have trouble."  
  
Elli reached the same decision. She pushed her chair away from the little table. "I'll make contact with the dolly," she said, then she lifted her drink and drained the contents. Waste not want not.  
  
"Time's tight to start building a relationship," Miles warned.  
  
Elli laughed. "She'll come straight away. If she's nothing more than she seems then it'll just be a spare body on board. If she is the one that we're looking for in this op, then we can work out the geek's status at our leisure. Wins for us both ways."  
  
"Yeah, can't fault the logic."  
  
"Gotta act."  
  
Elli glided to her feet and stepped gracefully around the table before she strode across the floor, negotiating errant hands and heavy gazes before finishing close to the place where the dolly was propping the bar.  
  
The girl was so fixated on the bartender's line of chat that she missed Elli's approach.  
  
Elli swung her hip onto the barstool and sat beside the dolly, still without attracting attention. Damn, what do I have to do? Elli took a risk and placed her hand against the dolly's bare back, breaking the non- contact taboo.  
  
It had to be done that way. The touch certainly got the woman's attention. The dolly whipped around as though she had been slapped. The look in her eyes was startled for an instant, taking on an almost feral intensity, like she was about to run for her life, and then the look toned back to just wary. Could have meant anything, but then again not. Elli let it past. Might have been nothing more than her being startled by the touch.  
  
Elli leant against the bar and watched the dolly over her shoulder. The pose damped some of the light show and made looking at her easier. "Not working for you?" Elli asked her.  
  
She almost had to shout into the other woman's ear to overcome the noise from the other bar. The dolly had certainly picked a poor place for trawling. There was too much noise to contend with if she expected any potential customer to come her way. And that might well be the reason why she was still alone. Fearing that the girl might just be incompetent, Elli was suddenly struck by a serious case of Second Thoughts about this approach.  
  
"I'm not working at the moment," The dolly told her, almost shouting to make herself heard. To Elli's practised ear, the hard edge was missing from her words. Not right; not the sort of tone used among workers.  
  
Elli sized her up through the corner of her eye. She certainly looked the part but she obviously wasn't. It had been obvious all along, and Elli had missed it.  
  
"I work for Neptune," Elli risked. There wasn't a great deal of time; she had to make contact. Just so long as the dolly didn't start to think that Elli was a client. Might take some sorting out later. Then again in the interest of getting out of here, that's an acceptable misconception, Elli decided.  
  
The dolly's face moved through the gamut, from enlightenment to relief. "I thought it must have been you," she said. "Sorry yeah. Um. Zeus knows this has been a long night. Is that OK? I started to wonder if I was going to get picked up at all. And then you started working that guy and I thought that you must have been just what you looked like and the deal would be made by someone else and there wasn't anyone..."  
  
"Bring them both," Miles transmitted. "If security gets hold of him, the geek will make you under questioning."  
  
"Just what I had in mind," Elli replied sub-vocally.  
  
A few metres to Elli's right, the geek emerged from the lavatory. For a moment he stood framed by the doorway. His eyes tracked to the table he had shared with Elli. His expression appeared wild, lost, maybe even thwarted, and then toned down to just confused for a moment before he spotting her by the bar. Then he smiled - it might have been forced, Elli was no judge - and began purposefully threading his way over to join her.  
  
Elli watched the show and wondered; what did all that mean?  
  
"You know him?" Elli asked the dolly, nodding toward the geek.  
  
"No," she replied neutrally. Her expression said baffled.  
  
"You will," Elli promised. "Possibly a lot better than you really want to. We have to move quickly if we're going to get out of here. Others are working the bar, and we might want to avoid them."  
  
The geek stopped just short of joining them, hovered outside of the radius of contact while he waiting to be invited into the conversation. Well, the guy has manners, Elli observed and then grabbed his hand so she could pull him over.  
  
"You ready to release the blow?" Elli transmitted to Miles  
  
"Already in the air."  
  
"I hope these two are proof."  
  
"That's the way it goes sometimes," Miles relayed with false lassitude. Elli was having none of that. She was frantic to get out of the alcove before it turned ugly, because she was dressed (if you could call it that) like cyber-slut. When the blow hit the alcove, she might be forced to hurt a few studs before she got her charges out because dressed in paint, Elli was just too tempting a target. There would no confusion about gaining access to her body, without any visible physical impediment to forced entry. Her and the dolly both. The last thing Elli needed was that kind of distraction.  
  
"We have an offer for you," Elli told the geek. "The two of us for the price of one. You got a room?"  
  
The geek looked the dolly over speculatively before he answered. "Yeah."  
  
Hesitantly. Like a guy really wanted that fantasy offered to him. He might dream, but given the chance. He was wondering what the catch was.  
  
The dolly cast one speculative glance Elli's way, all wide eyes and pursed lips, and then she screwed her mouth into an ugly moue of distaste that vanished before the geek caught it.  
  
"Let's go," Elli told them.  
  
The music was still pounding from the bar, but the first squeals of unwanted excitement could be heard over the melody.  
  
Miles had begun his diversion. 


	3. Chapter 3

Elli Quinn threaded past the club security contingent, dragging the geek and the dolly behind while weaving cautiously in opposition to the sudden flow of hired muscle. Most of the security contingent was making purposefully for the centre of the disturbance, but they had not travelled very far by the time Elli and co cleared their numbers. Slow to react, Elli chided silently, and then grabbed both the geek and the dolly by the hand. Outside the bar, the corridor presented the usual mixture of claustrophobic confines and overly vivid lighting characteristic of asteroid settlements throughout the system. Carved rock made up much of the walls and bonded carbon fibre or silicon laminate made up the buttressing. The floor was fashioned from either one or the other, depending on the surface finish required, and the extent of over-break during mining. Elli and co stepped through the door and into the corridor where she discovered that the air outside the bar was noticeably cooler than it had been on the inside. Elli shivered at the sudden cold, acutely conscious of how she wasn't dressed, and cursed quietly to herself. If she were pressed to confess then she would admit she knew in advance how much the air in the club would be heated. It was done to make shedding cloths more comfortable, in fact preferable. All part of the trade that a club like that needed to survive. Get 'em naked, get 'em bedded, get 'em back. At least the ambient noise level was lower. Elli shivered again, and this time she knew it had nothing to do with the cold. The club was pressurised and the airflow carried the blow out through the door. Elli had taken a whiff, knew it from the character of her own reaction. Felt it in the acceleration of her pulse and the growing heat in her solar plexus. That's all I need. She moaned inwardly, suddenly as horny as hell. The geek and dolly were afflicted much the same manner. It could have been a lot worse, Elli reminded herself. They could have been rolling on the floor blowing their load. "Gimme a direction Miles," Elli transmitted. "Fast!" She shook her head in a misguided attempt to clear it, using the gesture as a half-hearted attempt to flush the euphorics out of her system. It didn't work. Time was counting down while her body was playing mind-games with her head. Life was suddenly and thoroughly confusing. Thinking was suddenly very difficult. They had little margin before the Cetagandans got free of the chaos Miles had caused and they had to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible. For that she needed her head clear. There were decisions to be made and there was nothing like enough time to make them, and there was nothing like enough information upon which to base them. And not enough processing power to make them with, Elli decided and almost grinned. She took a deep breath and decided that the situation was bad, but it wasn't debilitating, not while Miles was providing her with back up. Not yet anyway. The geek and the dolly didn't seem any worse off than Elli, which was a seriously lucky break. It was good to get one out of this mess, and Elli was prepared to take everyone that came along. Immediately behind them, a couple fell through the doorway. One solid body bounced clumsily off Elli, the impact almost knocking her off her feet. Elli spun. Combat reflexes carried her around upon the balls of her feet - ready to kick heads and crush testicles - but it wasn't necessary. The clumsy interlopers were locked at the lips and anchored to each other by heavily entwined limbs. Elli wasn't bothered with assessing the gender mix; she just shoved them aside and left them bounce on their way along the corridor. "Head left," Miles advised. "Move it along. Our friends are on the move and coming after you. I think they know what's going on." "Don't need that last advice," Elli told him. "This way," she said out loud. The geek and the dolly nodded out of time with each other. Elli half pushed; half dragged her charges away from the rapidly accelerating spill of people falling out through the bar entrance. Amid the crush, employee-security was being rapidly overwhelmed by the developing riot. External security took an interest. Siren screeches suddenly filled the air. The geek was spending as much time looking over his shoulder as he did on the way ahead. "We were lucky to miss that," he commented absently. One glimpse through the swinging door was enough for Elli to catch sight of about half of the crowd enduring the debilitating throws of artificially induced ardour, while the rest were struggling to find a bit of help in achieving the same result. About a quarter were struggling to get out of the room - the better equipped, those who could afford suppression implants - and even they were struggling with the effects. For them the process of metabolising the neuro-hormone was still some time in the future. Even the best of the protective implants for guarding against artificial pheromones could only manage to dull the effect for a while. The stuff could hang around in the blood stream for days if your metabolism was artificially restrained, that was the problem Elli faced - eventually. When that happened Elli and Co were in for an uncomfortable couple of days after the artificial suppression ran out. Way it had to be sometimes, Elli tried to console herself, although she didn't really believe in the basis behind her own advice. The scenes of panic that that they left in her wake were more than Elli had expected, or wanted. "What was the concentration of that stuff?" she transmitted to Miles "Yeah, I hit it pretty hard," Miles agreed. "Didn't have time for subtlety." Another couple fell through the door, copying the earlier pairing, but Elli et al was already on the move and well out of harm's way, by the time the second couple fell to the floor. Elli was working hard herd them along, making as though they were strolling casually away from the club intent of a bit of fun. Playing for the security video. "I'm going to need some real careful coaxing," she advised Miles "Keep me focussed. OK. I got a load." "Got that. Always the way. When an op goes to shit it does it in a space ship." Elli let that comment past. She was too busy concentrating on placing her feet to indulge in her usual banter with Miles Before rounding the corner in the corridor, Elli paused briefly to check the corridor for surveillance and found herself watching the couple approaching consummation on the floor. The pair of them were fumbling with the fastenings of his clothes, snatching frustratingly into each other's way in their haste. Now that looked like a really good. Elli's thoughts began. "Gotta move," Miles reminded her. Elli shook herself like a wet dog and steeled herself against the temptation to Join In The Fun. "Yeah, OK. Right," she replied. She turned away with an effort, drew a deep breath to oxygenate her blood stream. It helped a little. She pushed the geek and the dolly along and then began walking carefully behind her new charges. It's time to get the hell out of here, she reminded herself, but casual, casual. Running always attracted attention. Staccato footfalls sounded in the corridor around the bend. "Security," Miles told Elli. "Make it look convincing." Elli and co staggered along the corridor, feigning nonchalance and a degree of erotic play that was not feigned. Elli was never happy with the way blow made her behave. She pushed herself on the geek in an effort to look inconsequential. The dolly burrowed her nose against Elli's cheek, exposed her mouth and then bent to kiss Elli deeply. Her mouth was wet and full of tongue. Her hands were wayward and invasive. Elli's revulsion was weak; in fact it was close to nonexistent. The security detail pounded through the corridors toward them. Leaving nothing like enough room for them to pass, one of them hip-and-shouldered Elli out of the way. Conditioned reflexes allowed Elli to dance lightly aside, riding with the momentum of the impact so she managed to avoid toppling to the floor, although she did endure a bit of confusion between her reflexes and the reduced gee. "OK," Miles told her. "You're clear for a bit now. Visuals are all green. Make a bit of haste." "OK. Got it," Elli took another breath and then set off, tugging the geek and the dolly behind her. Concentrate, she told herself over and over. It was hard work. Elli had realised that her head was only ever clear enough for her to think when no one was touching her. After swinging around the next bend in the corridor, the dolly tripped over her own feet and went sprawling on her butt. Elli didn't bother watching her antics, being more concerned by keeping an eye on the security detail's progress up the corridor. Reflective body armour and personnel stunners, she noted; serious stuff. "Elli, for god's sake, get moving," Miles instructed her. "Now! Bruno's being held up. You're on your own for a bit longer. I need you to get out of the way when the big boys come through. Won't be long." Bruno was back-up. Dendarii Free mercenary recruit. "Got it," she transmitted back. The reminder was enough to get her head back from wherever her hormones had taken her. For a little while anyway. The first wave of security was followed by a second; jackboots clattering against the floor, reflective armour making them look like ripples and distortions in the cavity walls. They're not taking prisoners, she told herself. Elli was slow to react, unable to get her charges completely out of harm's way before the second security contingent came pounding through. A tug on her arm was one of the security guys bouncing off the geek. The security guy's headlong plunge toward the blow-storm was barely deflecting by the impact, but his bulk almost knocked the geek off his feet. Elli reacted quickly, threw out one elegantly slender arm and managed to stabilise both herself and the geek before he landed on top of the dolly - who was only sort of half upright by that stage and seriously vulnerable if he came down of top of her. The dolly gave out a little screamlet when it looked like she was about to be buried beneath a hundred kilograms of tumbling geek, but she bit it off when Elli managed to divert him away from her. The dolly began chewing on her fist to stifle her voice. Might be the best thing, Elli decided. Elli watched the dolly over the geek's shoulder and decided that the other woman obviously wasn't going to be any use to them if things got messy. "Clumsy ox!" cursed the geek, after the fleeing security detail. Elli restrained herself before she decked him. The last thing she needed was attention from those goons. The dolly began climbing hesitantly upright, watching the geek the whole way in case he took it in his head to attack her again. But then Elli might have misinterpreted that look. The hulking bulk of Bruno Cantellian lumbered into the corridor behind them, huffing from the exertion required to catch. Elli waved at him and pointed in the direction where they planned to go blundering. She hoped he had missed the hormone storm. He might be dim, but he was focussed and that might be useful in the minutes ahead. One of them had to be on the case, because Elli sure wasn't. Not now, not for a while. "Elli," Miles's voice said, "more company." Elli was struggling to get her group moving again. "Aw," she transmitted. "Who now?" Her heart pounded like it was an animal in the cage of her lungs. The rush of her blood was like being pounded in the surf. "Local government security I think." "Great." Ahead of her she saw someone crouching in the corridor. Were they aiming something at them? "Keep moving," Miles chided, reading her mind by tracking the focus of her camera. Still calm. Yeah, he could be. Nerves of copper. "Just overactive party goers, already catalogued. Keep moving." "Yeah," Elli agreed. The four of them began drifting vaguely in the direction they were supposed to be heading if they could trust Miles's directions. Elli focussed on the newcomer crouched suspiciously in the corridor ahead of them. He made no overt moves and hadn't looked their way at all. It wasn't a good sign that lack of interest. Most people would have looked up to see who was approaching, especially with all the alarms sounding. Overhead, the lights flickered. The guy on the floor moaned. Elli relaxed a little. Sick. "It's gotten ugly back there," Miles told her. "Security server just went down. Weapons have been drawn." "Firing?" "Yeah. Reticulated power has been diverted and the club's been isolated. Only be a matter of time before they decide that a station wide lock down might be in order." "Anyone down?" "Not yet." Only a matter of time though, Elli decided. "Got an estimate for me on how long until they lock this whole shitheap down?" "Ten minutes, fifteen. We've got plenty." Nonchalance was obviously misplaced now though; frantic running might be a better idea. "We should get out of here," Elli told the geek and began dragging him forward. The dolly nodded dumbly and trailed along behind her. Elli led them purposefully through the corridor, following Miles's directions whenever they came through her ear-eye. "What the hell is going on?" the geek demanded. His tone was bewildered. Elli didn't have time to frame an answer. "Local Gov security team is really on the case now," Miles filled her in, "systematically searching. Blow proof, the lot of them. Top of the line gear, even better than the stuff you've got, Elli. I don't think the confusion is going to last much longer. They're right in the middle of it and they're not being very circumspect about conducting themselves. They might be just investigating the disturbance, but I don't think so. Not now that local security has been hacked." Made life difficult all the same. Three teams to worry about now. Damn! "Main bar?" Elli hustled the geek and the dolly around a corner just before a third security contingent marched past. "What's going on in the main bar? Are the Cetagandans still there? They being detailed by the Local Security?" "Yeah to both for now," Miles transmitted. It seemed to dawn on the geek that Elli knew a bit more about what was going down than she maybe should have done. "Do you know what this is about?" he demanded. His hand latched onto her bicep and gripped it almost painfully, pulling her to a halt in the corridor. "Security crack down," Elli told the geek, she looked pointedly at his hand and then back up to meet his eyes. His hand released convulsively. "Some bastard filled the bar with blow," she finished. "Gotta get moving. Get some space." "Oh," the geek said. "So that's." "Blow?" asked the dolly. Her eyes flew wide, as though she had just worked out who must have been responsible for the release. "We've got to get out of here," Elli said without answering the dolly's unspoken question. "Faster the better. Less talking and more moving is the idea." "My rooms down this way," the geek said and pointed toward the other branch in the corridor. "That might be a good place to hide out until." "Let's dodge the security first," Elli told him offhand. His resistance was token. They jogged onward. "UN are still in there," Miles transmitted into Elli's ear. "The doors have been secured now." "I've still gotta a few minutes then, before any move to lock down," Elli sub-vocalised. "Will it be enough?" "I'll do some blocking." "What about the Cetagandans?" "Distracted. Don't think they'll be on your tail for a little while." "Thank goodness for that." "Won't last long enough though. You got to get out of there. Time is ticking." "Thanks," She turned to the dolly, said out loud. "We got company back there. Nasty boys, they're after you, big time. Got to get you moving now. Serious moving." The geek stopped in the corridor. He stood in the middle of the hall and looked back the way they had come, standing with his hands on his hips. "What the .?" he managed. The alarm tone had changed, became a general alert. Not a lockdown yet. Elli grabbed his arm and dragged him along before he could reach the decision to be difficult. "Spotted a lot of people running in other corridors," Miles transmitted. "It's the latest thing, the newest trend that Just Has To Be Followed." It caught on. Running away from the disturbance was fine now. Elli and her entourage began hustling. In the corridor behind them Elli thought she caught the overspill from a sense ordinance assault. It was hard to tell over the pounding of her pulse. Subsonics and bowel loosening light shows, she identified, other gear for incapacitation. Jackson's Whole crowd suppression technology in action. Damn, but they were taking things really seriously back there. Screams rent the air. She could hear them over the sounds of the emergency sirens, even this far away. Amid the new confusion, and the need to run like hell, Elli found time to consider some of the more obvious incongruities about their situation. Mostly she was spooked by the official reaction to their little corporate lift. Have we walked into the world's worst coincidence? She wondered. Local security was behaving as though the events in the bar were part of a terrorist insurrection. She couldn't come up with any other reason for the sudden crack down, other than a parallel operation with the Cetagandans at the helm. It was the only way Elli could explain the grotesque over- reaction security was making back there. And that posed a serious question, one that was going to make a big difference to what happened when Miles tired to cut and run from the dock. If they had walked into another operation, it might be a big one and it might bring the big ordinance out from storage? Was that why the Cetagandans were aboard? Elli started to fret. Her pace along the corridor picked up to match the acceleration of her own pulse. The curve of the floor beneath her feet meant she was probably running too fast to do anything about any obstruction that might be lying in the corridor ahead of them. Made no difference, they had to get out of there, fast. This was going to get ugly any minute. She just knew it. "The Cetagandans are free," Miles told her. "What the hell is going on?" demanded the geek. Like he didn't know! Well at least the vids would look realistic. Confusion reigned. He grabbed her arm and repeated the question into her face. At least the dolly was quiet, almost comatose, but upright. Her face was all slack-jawed and suggestible. "Oh god," muttered Elli, only now realising that his confusion might be real. He might be a complete innocent. Competing thoughts raced furiously through her head. She struggled to ignore them all and failed because that idea led to another question. The light show plays hell with the vid records, makes identification real difficult. Not so for him. He's seen it all, and could work the security ID if it came to that. Give me up on a plate, just as soon as they asked him. She grabbed his arm in sudden decision and dragged him along. "Let's make with the running," she told him. "Problems back there. Enough to get you killed maybe. I'll explain later." "But." protested the geek. "I don't like the way your friends are heading straight for you," Miles transmitted. "They're coming your way, real purposeful like. Looks like they can track you." "How?" "Don't know. You haven't cut through a microwave radar net, nothing for a security alert to pick up on. I'll keep an eye out and see if there's something, hardware whatever." "OK, right, thanks." The dolly's big brown eyes looked imploringly up at Elli. "It wasn't meant to be this difficult," she apologised. Elli reached another branch in the corridor and paused before rounding the bend, checking out any oncoming. Just a couple of geeks coming for a look- see. "Yeah, that's what I got told as well," Elli told the dolly. "Come on. Move it. We don't want company." She grabbed them both and pulled them around the bend in the corridor, back up to running speed again. This branch went long enough for the upward curve in the floor to hide the far end. Light flared viciously, then was gone. A piece of rock and silicon-fibre blew out of the wall some way ahead of where they had been heading originally. An explosive percussion accompanied the lightshow and the corridor filled with dust and smoke. Elli reacted instinctively, grabbing both of her companions before she fell into the shadow of a buttress. One of the geeks walking toward them was slow to react. His head burst into flame and he fell to the floor, dropping as though his puppet-strings had been cut. The aroma of barbequed flesh wafted along the corridor, propelled by the ventilation system. The dolly's bare skin was hot against Elli's back, raising the whole issue of barely consensual sex again. Her whimpering was something that Elli could do without at this moment, but instead she began to glory in the feel of the dolly's bare skin against Elli's back. Warmth was spreading from her loins, driven by the blow. The sound of fire and the percussion of shattering rock came from much further back along the tunnel. Returned fire? Elli couldn't be sure, not distracted the way she was. Some one just died out there, she reminded herself. It made little difference. Her thoughts were a mess. 


	4. Chapter 4

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P align=centerChapter 4/B/FONT/P  
  
P align=justify"Pulse laser," Miles informed Elli. "No sign of particle beam   
  
weapons or projectiles yet."/P  
  
P align=justify"No shit," Elli transmitted back. She restrained an impulse to   
  
nibble on the geek's neck./P  
  
P align=justify"Thought I'd be helpful."/P  
  
P align=justify"I'm not carrying," she transmitted back. "I couldn't carry   
  
anything with this outfit anyway. Admiral, I really would appreciate it if you   
  
would do your job. Find a way to get me out of here before the shooting gets   
  
serious." She launched an arm and flattened both the geek and the dolly against   
  
the wall before she poked her own head out for a few milliseconds, took a vid   
  
and waited for Miles to transmit it back to her ear-eye as a still. /P  
  
P align=justifyThe image ignited in her eyes. /PI  
  
P align=justifyClear! /IHer experienced eye judged. Cheering was an   
  
attractive option, except she didn't have time. IOK, time to move,/I she   
  
hustled them onward with a gesture. They began creeping along the corridor,   
  
keeping as much of themselves in the protective lee of buttresses and the wall   
  
irregularities as they could manage. Elli expected the whole thing to end   
  
painfully at any moment and her heart hammed in her chest like it wanted to get   
  
out of its bony cage. /PI  
  
P align=justifyGod knows what the geek and the dolly are going through./I   
  
Elli couldn't give a damn right at that moment./P  
  
P align=justify"Bruno's carrying," Miles transmitted. "Gotta watch out for   
  
security nets."/P  
  
P align=justify"He can't shoot worth a damn any way," she judged. IIt must   
  
have been Bruno that shot back,/I Elli concluded./P  
  
P align=justifyThey reached a branch in the corridor. She bundled them down it   
  
and began to run. /P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly was sobbing and the geek seemed to be in a state of   
  
shock. At least they were nearly silent./P  
  
P align=justify"Neither can you," Miles replied, erroneously. "Just run.   
  
You're clear for the next few bends."/P  
  
P align=justify"Guide me to the lock."/P  
  
P align=justify"Left now."/P  
  
P align=justifyShe ran. Something ahead of them caught her eye too late for   
  
her to do anything about it. From nowhere, a cleaning bot appeared. She had no   
  
time to dodge or leap and tripped, sprawling headlong into the corridor. The bot   
  
careered into the distance, knocked onto it's head by her flailing foot.   
  
Instinctively Elli curled herself into a ball to cushion the impact, and blessed   
  
the low G again. Landing on the floor still hurt, but at least she had not   
  
broken any ribs or arms. /P  
  
P align=justifyNow all she had to do was learn how to breathe again. /P  
  
P align=justifyBehind the spot where Elli landed, the geek used his feet to   
  
find whatever the cleaning bot had been sent out to fix. His feet slid across   
  
the pool of vomit left on the floor by an earlier partygoer. He went down   
  
flailing. The geek's head made a horrible noise when it hit the floor. Like a   
  
bowling ball hitting the parquetry from height./P  
  
P align=justify"You haven't got time to muck about on the floor," Miles   
  
scolded./P  
  
P align=justifyElli was still measuring her length on the floor leaning how to   
  
suck air again. The dolly leant over Elli. "Are you alright?" she asked./P  
  
P align=justifyElli's foot was going to hurt like she wouldn't believe when   
  
she slowed down enough to feel it. She just hoped the toes weren't broken./P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah, just bruised," Elli wheezed and painfully dragged   
  
herself back off the floor. She crawled weakly across the where the geek had   
  
come to rest. He looked like he was down for a while and for some reason Elli   
  
felt responsible for his condition. She bent to check on him. /P  
  
P align=justifyFrantic fingers fumbled the back of his head. His skull was   
  
still intact. Seemed to be. Nothing gave under her fingers. That was about the   
  
only good thing to happen in the last couple of minutes./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly stood by the wall and stared. "Is he OK?" she asked.   
  
Her words were barely audible around her knuckles. Her voice was an octave   
  
higher than normal./PI  
  
P align=justifyAt least she hadn't run off. That made two good things,   
  
/IElli decided.I /P/I  
  
P align=justifyBruno lumbered up behind them and almost lifted Elli bodily   
  
from the floor. She shrugged him off with an airy gesture. The last thing she   
  
needed at that moment was to have her bare skin touched. "Cover us," she   
  
instructed Bruno, pointed at his gun and then back along the corridor./P  
  
P align=justifyHe was gone almost before she finished speaking. He might not   
  
be bright, but he knew his job./P  
  
P align=justifyMore ruby light flared and more rock exploded. Elli dragged the   
  
geek along the corridor and into the lee of a bend./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly was making I'm-going-to-scream motions, filling her   
  
lungs with enough air to let off a good one. It was the last thing Elli needed   
  
at this moment and thought about letting her hand fly, but that would be belting   
  
a client, so she stayed the impulse before it became real. Instead she pulled   
  
the woman bodily into the shelter of a rocky protuberance./P  
  
P align=justifyThe sound of ionising radiation filled the corridor behind   
  
them, the sound of a photonic weapon destroying oxygen and nitrogen molecules in   
  
their billions. Elli hoped it was Bruno at work. If it wasn't him then they were   
  
in serious trouble./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly closed her mouth with a teeth-jarring snap. /PI  
  
P align=justifyWell at least that put paid to the scream./I Probably stopped   
  
her from hyperventilating as well. Good things were starting to stack up -   
  
slowly. Still dwarfed by the stack of bad things, even so./P  
  
P align=justifyElli knelt down to take a better look at the geek. He wasn't   
  
going anywhere, not without help. She tried pulling him to his feet, but he was   
  
nothing but dead weight. The guy was out for…/P  
  
P align=justify"You'll be OK if they stick to energy beam weapons," Miles   
  
transmitted. "The light show will interfere. Elli. It's just pulse lasers. Drop   
  
back and protect our investment."/P  
  
P align=justifyThe pain was starting to make itself obvious in Elli's toe, the   
  
one that kicked three kinds of snot out of the cleaning bot. "Yeah but if I take   
  
one hit they'll know," she transmitted back, "and get out a projectile weapon.   
  
I'll stick to running down these corridors thanks."/P  
  
P align=justify"There's brownie points in it for you."/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah. Ten more and I'll have an elf." Elli climbed painfully,   
  
but rapidly, back to her feet. "Bare-butted in a fire fight," she muttered.   
  
"This is the last time I play Cyber-slut. She's dead from now on. OK?"/P  
  
P align=justify"It's a role that you're cut out for."/P  
  
P align=justify"I don't think so."/P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly was cowering by the wall, making a really small   
  
target thankfully. IThis had better be worth it; /IElli cursed, casting a   
  
withering glance the dolly's way and watching her searchingly./P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah, well, Elli, they're able to track something," Miles   
  
suggested. "Find out what it is and then get rid of it."/P  
  
P align=justifyThe geek showed no sign of coming around soon. Bruno wouldn't   
  
be able to hold them off long./P  
  
P align=justify"It's the light show," she guessed wildly. "I'll bet you."/P  
  
P align=justify"What are you going to do? Shut it down?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Won't make any difference now. They know which way we're   
  
headed. It's only the lifts leading to docking port down this way."/P  
  
P align=justify"Of course, you're right. Imagine that…"/P  
  
P align=justify"I don't need any sarcasm," she threw back. "And there's   
  
probably only the one ship powered up and going live in the entire port. Am I   
  
right?"/P  
  
P align=justifyA delay. "Yeah."/P  
  
P align=justify"Then we have big trouble Admiral You ready to defend your   
  
spot?"/P  
  
P align=justifyA report and a ricochet sounded in the corridor. The analysis   
  
software in Elli's ear-eye piece projected the identification into her eye, a   
  
self propelled explosive cartridge, still small calibre, low energy, all small   
  
bore so far but... Bigger was probably an option. All she needed. IThey were   
  
awake-up back there, bastards./I The interference pattern in her light show   
  
was going to be no protection from here on in./P  
  
P align=justifyShe grabbed the dolly by the arm and dragged her forcibly along   
  
the corridor./P  
  
P align=justify"Bruno!" Elli yelled over her shoulder. "Bring the geek."/P  
  
P align=justifyBruno grunted something monosyllabic in reply./P  
  
P align=justify"Left at the next branch," Miles transmitted. "I'm going to try   
  
to lose them for you. It's a maintenance corridor."/P  
  
P align=justify"What good will that do us?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Confusion."/P  
  
P align=justify"Is it quicker?"/P  
  
P align=justify"No."/P  
  
P align=justify"Then why are we doing it for?"/P  
  
P align=justify"I can booby trap it."/P  
  
P align=justify"OK, do it." To the dolly she added, "wait here." Elli spun on   
  
her heel and sprinted back so she caught up with Bruno. "Left ahead," she told   
  
him. He nodded and took one more shot down the apparently empty corridor. He   
  
missed everything except the wall, but at least the corridor remained   
  
essentially empty of threats./P  
  
P align=justifyThat wasn't going to last long./PI  
  
P align=justifyIt was time to run like hell, /IElli decided./P  
  
P align=justifyBreathing laboured and legs pumping the sound of another whine   
  
of ricocheted particles reminded Elli Quinn of their exposure. She hiccoughed   
  
out one short hysterical bark that might have been the second cousin of laughter   
  
at the errant thought that ran through her headI; As though I needed another   
  
clue before I worked out that we're in deep shit. /IShe pounded along the   
  
corridor, struggling to keep the dolly and Bruno-loaded-down-with-geek moving,   
  
while staying far enough ahead of their pursuit so the upward curve of the floor   
  
prevented a line of sight. It was all they could do. Elli brought up the rear,   
  
not bothering to shoot just at the moment. Speed was more important for the next   
  
few seconds. /P  
  
P align=justify"Why are they shooting?" Elli demanded of Miles "I thought this   
  
was just a corporate raid. Money only, none of this shit. This is serious."/P  
  
P align=justify"I don't know," Miles transmitted. "I wasn't planning on this   
  
sort of thing either Elli. See the bulkhead just ahead of you, that's it."/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah, got it."/P  
  
P align=justifyThe maintenance tunnel was only half as big as the main   
  
corridor, although it was tall enough, thankfully, for them to stand upright.   
  
They ran onward. There was more light ahead and then a door resolved from behind   
  
the curve of ceiling. Elli lined up the door catch and made straight for it. The   
  
door gave way without a fight, but it was slow. Bruno caught up and dumped the   
  
geek on the floor while he waited. For coverage, Bruno sighted along the   
  
corridor behind them and let a few blasts off for form's sake. There were no   
  
visible targets. All he did was blacken the wall and slag a bit of   
  
carbon-fibre./P  
  
P align=justifyA deadened click within the wall suggested machinery-in-action.   
  
The lock release was the best sign that Elli had seen for a while. A sure sign   
  
that Miles was still in the station operating system./P  
  
P align=justify"Who's doing the shooting?" Elli asked. She hustled into the   
  
corridor and scanned it for signs of life./P  
  
P align=justify"Looks like the Cetagandans."/P  
  
P align=justify"Not the local security?"/P  
  
P align=justify"No."/P  
  
P align=justify"I don't like that," Elli muttered thoughtfully. The door slid   
  
fully open at last. Elli slipped through, checked that the corridor was clear   
  
before giving a hand signal for the rest of them to follow. "What about the   
  
local security? What're they doing?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Not sure. They seem to be lost all of a sudden, lots of   
  
milling around and hassling people without any real purpose. Lot of gear working   
  
the net now though. Very confusing."/P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly slipped through the door behind Elli, still looking   
  
dazed and confused. Elli pushed her against the wall so the doorway was clear   
  
for Bruno et al./P  
  
P align=justify"So they're not part of the interference we're getting?" Elli   
  
concluded./P  
  
P align=justify"Well… Not yet!"/P  
  
P align=justify"Keep me updated on the status of the locals. They're the ones   
  
that worry me the most."/P  
  
P align=justify"You not worried about Cetagandans?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Always, but they're a known quantity. Find 'em for me. Need to   
  
know where they are, but I can deal if it comes to that. I can negotiate with   
  
them. Not so easy with the locals."/P  
  
P align=justifyBruno grabbed the geek by the hands and dragged him through the   
  
doorway. He made the job look so easy; but then he out-massed Elli by almost a   
  
hundred percent. IMost of it in muscle, including the bit between his   
  
ears./P/I  
  
P align=justify"I'm going to bring the geek," Elli transmitted. "Even in that   
  
state."/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah. Take 'em both out with us," Miles transmitted. "We can   
  
sort 'em out later. I don't want to leave anyone behind who might be able to   
  
give a good ID."/P  
  
P align=justify"Great minds…"/P  
  
P align=justify"… think alike."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli was thankful for that concession. The Cetagandans wouldn't   
  
have thought twice about killing the geek if they were in the same position. It   
  
was one of the reasons why Elli continued to work with the Dendarii Free   
  
Mercenaries despite regularly fielding alternate offers. She had moral   
  
standards./P  
  
P align=justify"Bruno, carry the geek," she instructed, "like he's drunk and   
  
we have to help him home."/P  
  
P align=justifyBruno nodded. He might not be bright, but he followed   
  
directions and he was loyal as hell. They began moving along the corridor again,   
  
making much the same sort of progress they made during their previous   
  
flight./P  
  
P align=justifyThe uniform of a maintenance worker appeared from beneath the   
  
curve of the ceiling, walking slowly toward them. Elli watched the woman's   
  
progress carefully, wary of what might be going down. She wasn't carrying.   
  
IProbably legitimate/I, Elli concluded./P  
  
P align=justifyThey gathered themselves together and fussed past the   
  
maintenance tech, sliding by in the narrow confines of the hallway with a bit of   
  
cooperation./P  
  
P align=justifyAnd then they were free of interference for a few blessed   
  
seconds./P  
  
P align=justifyElli turned to the dolly and with one glance made sure the girl   
  
was still functional. She seemed to be OK, now. The worst of the hysterics   
  
seemed to have passed but he eyes were still way too wide though, if Elli was   
  
any judge. "Admiral, need directions," Elli demanded. "Which way?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Keep following this corridor until you come to a yellow door   
  
on your left."/P  
  
P align=justify"Got it," Elli said out loud. "Bruno watch for signs of life,   
  
but don't shoot anyone, especially if they're who we think they are."/P  
  
P align=justify"The Cetagandans?" Bruno said simply. It was only half a   
  
question. He didn't have the same level of interface with Miles Tended to   
  
confuse him. ICouldn't parallel process worth a damn. Male thing,   
  
/Ireflected Elli, Ithey were all much the same./I /P  
  
P align=justifyBruno was staring through the partition back along the corridor   
  
they had just come through, waiting for her to answer him. Noise from behind   
  
them, someone being shoved out of the way./P  
  
P align=justifyElli agreed with Bruno's guess then clapped him on the back. It   
  
was time to hustle again./P  
  
P align=justify/P  
  
P align=justifyThey ran on. Elli dragged the dolly by the hand, struggling to   
  
keep her upright and intact in their haste. It wasn't just that she had two left   
  
feet, the girl had other issues to make life difficult, like a bit more bounce   
  
and jiggle than Elli. The flowers she wore went no way toward being a foundation   
  
garment. She was a bit lacking in aerobic fitness too, despite appearances. /P  
  
P align=justifyBut overall the dolly's lack of physical performance was not   
  
their major problem. Bruno was struggling beneath the bulk of the geek who was   
  
hanging off his shoulder and slowing them all down to his level. It was a severe   
  
limitation on their ground speed. But Elli was loath to leave him behind. INot   
  
with the Cetagandans involved. No way!/P/I  
  
P align=justifyElli relieved Bruno of his gun, Iseemed sensible./I It was   
  
a lightweight carbon fibre framed contraption with an intelligent moulding to   
  
adapt to the shape and action of her hand. She shucked the power pack out,   
  
checked the I'mOK indications quickly, before slamming it back home. IBeta   
  
Colony make the best gear,/I she told herself. /P  
  
P align=justifyFrom her ear-eye's memory storage she selected its operating   
  
system and interfaced it to the comp gear. Icons showing charge status and   
  
sightlines appeared in her visual field, curtesy of the ear-eye-gun interface.   
  
Gyro's kept the gun barrel vertical despite the bucking while being carried in   
  
someone's hand. Running backwards, with nothing moving to aim for, she shot a   
  
few walls to keep their pursuers in circumspect mode. Despite her efforts, the   
  
sounds of pursuit came closer. She turned and ran some more, concentrating on   
  
distance./P  
  
P align=justify"Door ahead," Miles transmitted barely in time. Bruno almost   
  
carried his burden past it./P  
  
P align=justifyElli skidded to halt at the yellow door and pushed on the latch   
  
mechanism. It wouldn't respond./P  
  
P align=justifyAnother blast came from behind them, shattering another lump of   
  
rock face. She whipped around, sighted and let a blast off in response. IAt   
  
least there's none of them in front of us yet,/I she decided. It was small   
  
comfort./P  
  
P align=justify"How's our comms holding up?" Elli asked Miles worried now   
  
about the lack of purpose in the pursuit. And then she was more worried by the   
  
lack of response from the door./P  
  
P align=justify"Still good," Miles's voice came through clear. "I told you   
  
this encryption was good gear. We're still on the public web. You'll have line   
  
of sight soon, won't be an issue then."/P  
  
P align=justify"Need the door lock bypassed."/P  
  
P align=justify"On it."/P  
  
P align=justify"Well, hurry."/P  
  
P align=justifyAnother rock shard broke from the wall and another shell   
  
wheeeeed into the distance. A sharp pain told Elli that she had sprung a leak.   
  
Blood trailed down her side./P  
  
P align=justifySomeone grunted, but she didn't have time to find out who, or   
  
why. The door sprang open. "Gotcha," chortled Miles into the link joining him to   
  
Elli./P  
  
P align=justifyThey tumbled into the corridor like the Keystone Kops on   
  
steroids. The door slammed shut behind them like a guillotine. Elli blinked at   
  
it mystified for a baffled second./P  
  
P align=justify"Air-loss prevention bulkhead," Miles explained without being   
  
asked. "You've just moved from one zone to another."/P  
  
P align=justifyIt was no matter. "Where to from here?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Head left. Then take the first right. That'll get you to an   
  
elevator that will bring you right to me. Looks clear through there."/P  
  
P align=justify"OK, got it."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli wasn't waiting around or mucking about. Even this close to   
  
their ship, it was essential that they hurry. They made it that far without   
  
incident - it was her aim to keep it that way. /P  
  
P align=justifyShe recognised where they were now. The corridor they were in   
  
now was familiar from when they first arrived, the same scruffy marks on the   
  
walls, the same dodgy paint and the same colours. IWas that only two days   
  
ago?/I Elli marvelled.I Shit, how time flies while you're having   
  
fun./P/I  
  
P align=justifyThe elevator was already open, waiting for them./P  
  
P align=justify"You got this slaved?" she asked Miles/P  
  
P align=justify"Locked out of the web."/P  
  
P align=justifyBruno clambered into the elevator with the geek slung over his   
  
shoulder. Elli pushed the dolly through ahead of her. Another rock shard   
  
exploded ahead of Elli and added that touch of urgency to her dive through the   
  
door./P  
  
P align=justifyThe elevator lurched upward - finally. Gravity gave way   
  
disconcertingly quickly with elevation while they moved toward the docking hub.   
  
And then they were in free fall./PI  
  
P align=justifyAt least that's the first stage of pursuit behind us,/I Elli   
  
thought while she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. As usual she felt the urge to   
  
belch, and couldn't. It was damned uncomfortable having all her bodily organs in   
  
her throat. IBackwoods hick station, /Ishe cursed inwardly. Until a couple   
  
of days ago she thought artificial gravity was used universally./P  
  
P align=justifyThe elevator door hissed open and spilled them through the   
  
rotating bearing and into the docking bay. The airlock to their shuttle was   
  
hanging in the corridor ahead of them, a yellow striped bulkhead, no different   
  
to all the others that lined the docking cavity. /P  
  
P align=justifyThe indications above the door flashed green, clear to open.   
  
Elli bashed her fist against the release mechanism and spent an anxious moment   
  
floating in space while she waited for the door. After the sword in scabbard   
  
sound the door made whe it released she waved the rest of her entourage through.   
  
Between them, all they could muster was a chaotic clamber through the lock and   
  
into the shuttle./P  
  
P align=justifyAnd all hell broke loose behind her, flame and noise, a wave of   
  
heated air. The blast almost crashed Elli against the bulkhead, percussion shock   
  
wave blasting through the orifice and buffeting them against the back wall of   
  
the lock. /P  
  
P align=justifySomeone screamed. Elli thought it might have been   
  
her./P/BODY/HTML 


	5. Chapter 5

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P align=justifyThe blast was echoing around Elli Quinn's head as though Wagner   
  
was on the job conducting a Timpani section inside her skull. While her ears   
  
went about ringing, Elli's confusion was accentuated by the dolly bouncing off   
  
her with enough force to loosen a couple of teeth before ricocheting onto the   
  
lock wall. /P  
  
P align=justifyElli shook her head and managed to find enough concentration to   
  
search out the lock controls. She swung her fist at it wildly. Somehow she   
  
managed to make contact. The lock door closed behind them with a metallic rasp   
  
like the sword was being shoved back into the scabbard. /P  
  
P align=justifyA muffled thump outside suggested another percussion grenade   
  
had gone off just outside the door. /P  
  
P align=justifyThe door finished closing with a gentle thud inside the   
  
latching mechanism. /P  
  
P align=justifySome protection provided but she still had plenty to do. The   
  
fire storm was far from over yet. Elli caught the geek's floating body before he   
  
did someone an injury and then she screwed herself around in space while she   
  
fought his inertia. She was still struggling to bring his motion to heel when   
  
Bruno floated onto her, adding his bulk to the geek. Between the two of them   
  
their mass pinned her against the wall./P  
  
P align=justifyAlmost panicked, Elli shoved the geek away from her with a   
  
frantic - almost hysterical - heave. /P  
  
P align=justifyHer breath came in laboured gasps, the effects of the blow   
  
forgotten in the adrenalin rush since making the lock. IWhat the hell was   
  
Bruno doing?/I She wondered. And then she knew. She could smell his problem   
  
before she saw it and she knew with a sick certainty that Bruno was bleeding -   
  
bad. Elli hadn't noticed that before, tangled up as she was in her own problems.   
  
She had time to notice now though. The lack of focus in Bruno's expression   
  
looked really nasty to Elli's mind and his breath was coming in ragged gasps.   
  
Sweat beaded on his forehead. She craned her head and saw that all one side of   
  
his body was bloody. /P  
  
P align=justifyThe inner lock still hadn't opened, the thing was probably   
  
struggling with pressure balance that they probably didn't need, and Bruno   
  
needed the med kit fast. /PI  
  
P align=justifyThe human body holds a lot of blood,/I Elli reminded herself.   
  
IYou can make a real mess of your clothes with just a flesh wound. /IExcept   
  
the bloom was spreading and there seemed no let up in the flow. Bloody globules   
  
began beading on his shirt. If they got lose into the air then they were going   
  
to have real problems. She had to get the blood flow stopped./P  
  
P align=justifyWorse still was the pallor of his face beneath the sweat. That   
  
suggested shock./P  
  
P align=justify"Open the lock," Elli screamed into the nanonic microphone, not   
  
bothering with the discipline of sub-vocalisation now. /P  
  
P align=justifyNothing happened. /PI  
  
P align=justifyThat'd be right, /IElli fumed, Itrapped in the damned   
  
airlock all the way back to ground. /IShe seriously hated planets, but not   
  
that bad. She hit the lock release again and waited for the iris to clear. /P  
  
P align=justifyNothing happened the second time, so she cursed it again. /P  
  
P align=justifyThen it decided to open - at last. /PI  
  
P align=justifyHooray!/I She cheered inwardly. /P  
  
P align=justifyThe lock shot aside with manic silicon zeal. Minor variations   
  
in air pressure stabilised around Elli. Popping in her ears was a blessed relief   
  
when she fell through the door. /P  
  
P align=justifyAnother muffled explosion in the station was enough motivation   
  
to keep moving. Elli tumbled through the lock into a barren compartment fitted   
  
out with acceleration couches and portholes - but not much else. The décor was   
  
taken from the silicon fibre and engineered functionality school of interior   
  
design. /P  
  
P align=justifyThankful for freefall, Elli pirouetted and began manhandling   
  
Bruno through the lock, conscious always of the hidden trap of inertia,   
  
especially after the beating she had already taken running through the station.   
  
Her mind was busy cursing the station's lack of artificial gravity again. It   
  
made no difference to her circumstances but it kept her mind from spiralling   
  
into panic./P  
  
P align=justify"Only a few minutes Elli," Miles transmitted into her ear. She   
  
didn't have time to frame a reply./P  
  
P align=justifyBruno floated like a dead whale, crashing against her shoulder   
  
and thumping her against the bulkhead. IJust like last time./I /P  
  
P align=justifyShe managed to get him into position, eventually./P  
  
P align=justifyShe had much the same problem getting the geek through the lock   
  
but she managed much better doing the task a second time, being more experienced   
  
with the problems associated with manoeuvring a misshapen mass of uncontrolled   
  
inertia. Elli left him floating in space. /P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly drifted into the shuttle, trailing behind Elli like   
  
an obedient puppy, apparently incapable of thinking for herself in the aftermath   
  
of the action throughout the flight from the station./P  
  
P align=justifyElli shoved Bruno into an acceleration couch where he sprawled   
  
drunkenly. She checked - he was still breathing, and then she fussed around   
  
trying to staunch the flow of blood. And that was about as much first aid as she   
  
had time to provide. /P  
  
P align=justifyA wadded up clot of his shirt was the only thing at hand. IIt   
  
had to do, /Ishe decided. IIt was time to focus on other matters./P/I  
  
P align=justifyElli caught the geek before he crashed into something sharp.   
  
"Give me a hand," she instructed the dolly. The woman seemed intent on staring   
  
into space while doing nothing until she was galvanised into action by Elli's   
  
bark. The woman shook herself like a wet dog, her eyes focussed and then she   
  
floated deftly over to provide some help. /P  
  
P align=justifyBetween them Elli and the dolly managed to lever the geek into   
  
another acceleration couch. The guy was a lot heavier than he looked. IMore   
  
muscular,/I Elli figured. When things going on around her became a little less   
  
frantic she might indulge in a bit of aesthetic appreciation, but now was not   
  
the time./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly had a few smudges from brushing against the walls and   
  
a couple of little scrapes on her back and under her ribs, but her skin was   
  
almost entirely intact otherwise. ILucky bitch, /IElli judged./P  
  
P align=justifyAnother small explosion rocked the shuttle. "We're going to   
  
have to blast our way free of the station," Miles announced. "Local security   
  
have locked up the flight control. Won't let us un-dock. Can't get permission to   
  
uncouple. We're going to make a terrible mess leaving like that."/P  
  
P align=justify"What's our status?" Elli asked. "We ready to launch?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah. Strap in. I'm busy arguing with local flight control.   
  
Talk later."/P  
  
P align=justifyAn alarm began screaming. /P  
  
P align=justifyElli whipped around frantically, searching for the   
  
acknowledgment and couldn't find it. The dolly showed no signs of knowing what   
  
was happening. And then Elli realised that it was software, the read out was fed   
  
direct into her ear-eye. She read the alarm notification. It just read 'ship's   
  
system alert'. Security microwave laser had picked up a threat and advised Elli   
  
to have a look see what it was about. It must have been a bad breach of their   
  
security protocol for the ship's AI to use the audio alarm rather than a visual   
  
cue. /P  
  
P align=justifyElli tried a download but there was no more data available from   
  
that source, she had to get logged into the ship's systems directly and Miles's   
  
firewall was in the way./PI  
  
P align=justifyThe geek, /IElli cursed silentlyBI. /BIt'll be the gear   
  
in him that set it off, no fucking doubt about itB./B /IShe was prepared   
  
to bet money on it./P  
  
P align=justifyElli transferred her local pointer to the local ship dataweb,   
  
and downloaded the shuttle security system controls through her ear-eye set. A   
  
new set of interface data floated in her view-field; lased through her retina by   
  
the cybernetic interface. Elli read through it hurriedly, searching for the   
  
alarm condition among the menu of icons. And then it threw a text box into her   
  
view. She read it quickly and shook her head for a moment not able to believe   
  
what she was reading. It was the dolly who set off the alarm. The woman was full   
  
of cybernetic interfaces. So was the geek for that matter and Elli had expected   
  
that, but their microwave radar had identified all of his gear, typical of most   
  
cyber-wage-slaves, but the dolly's… None of the gear in the dolly was on file.   
  
/PI  
  
P align=justifyNow what the hell was that all about?/I /P  
  
P align=justifyElli swivelled for a hard look on the dolly, but she seemed to   
  
be oblivious to the attention, staring into space as though she was in a world   
  
of her own. IWorry about that later,/I Elli told herself. IThere are more   
  
pressing concerns./P  
  
P align=justifyLike getting the hell out of here./P/I  
  
P align=justify"We gotta get into ship suits," Elli instructed. Bruno would be   
  
OK. His gear was vacuum resistant, for long enough anyway. IProvided the hole   
  
in it wasn't too big and… /IElli shook her head to reset her thinking.   
  
IShit, what a mess! /P/I  
  
P align=justifyThe geek would be…OK, maybe… She didn't have time to worry   
  
about him either./P  
  
P align=justifyThe security alarm flagged again, demanding to know if the   
  
micro-interface gear embedded in the dolly's head was acceptable to Elli./PI  
  
P align=justifyI can deal with that security shit later,/I Elli decided.   
  
IThere were more important things to consider yet - like getting everyone   
  
through the next few minutes in one piece./P/I  
  
P align=justifyAnother explosion rocked the shuttle. They were getting closer.   
  
/P  
  
P align=justify"Status Admiral?" she queried./P  
  
P align=justify"I mined the dock," Miles explained. "Percussion grenades, not   
  
something big enough to do real damage. We're not under direct threat just   
  
yet."/P  
  
P align=justify"We got long?"/P  
  
P align=justify"No, just hurry."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli swung into action. Secured in a compartment by the lock   
  
entrance was a collection of ship suits, layered fabric and polymer, able to   
  
release and recycle perspiration into a thin sandwich layer, external surface   
  
was a controlled albedo layer, able to radiate or insulate heat as required by   
  
the in-built thermostatic control. The cabinet door sprang open of it's own   
  
accord. Elli began rifling through the suits, sorting out the sizes. The dolly   
  
was about her size, give or take a bit of localised development. The geek was   
  
probably three or four sizes bigger, maybe more. There was nothing in there for   
  
him - she knew that without looking. He was just going to have to take potluck   
  
on that suit he was wearing. Problems with atmospheric control were pretty rare   
  
anyway. /PI  
  
P align=justifyShould be OK./P  
  
P align=justifyMaybe…/P/I  
  
P align=justifyElli pushed a ship suit at the dolly. It was about the right   
  
general size. The dolly caught it from the air and began shoving her legs into   
  
the suit. /P  
  
P align=justify"Take those things off," Elli said and pointed at the dolly's   
  
decorative flowers. "They'll get embossed into your skin by the suit when it   
  
starts shrinking. Never get the marks off."/P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly nodded and began peeling her decorations off,   
  
starting with the one over her pubes. Elli caught a glimpse of the girl through   
  
the corner of her eye and shook her head, partially in disbelief. The woman's   
  
body was so neatly packaged and artifical. IWas there no part of her that   
  
wasn't modified for the job in some way? /IElli wondered. IEven after she's   
  
filled with blow, the woman still looks like a little girl/I./P  
  
P align=justifyWhile Elli made busy getting Bruno secured properly into the   
  
acceleration couch; the dolly began wriggling into the suit and grimaced when it   
  
contracted against her skin. Afterward she looked like someone had painted her   
  
with mercury. She obviously knew the drill. She wasn't quick, but she was either   
  
well informed, or brighter than was needed for the job she was expected to do.   
  
/P  
  
P align=justifyBefore she finished her preparations, Elli looked over Bruno   
  
one more time, offering him a bubble helmet, just in case. He was in a bad way,   
  
but functional enough to finish the ship suit load up, which was all software   
  
based and that made life easier for him. He managed to fit the helmet ring to   
  
the suit collar despite the palsy of his hands. "I'll be OK, Commander," he   
  
wheezed. "You just get ready."/P  
  
P align=justifyShe nodded. There were tears waiting to be shed and they   
  
blurred her vision. That moment of lucidity must have really cost him. Fresh   
  
sweat beaded his brow almost instantly./P  
  
P align=justifyElli wasn't sure what to do about the geek. His clothes looked   
  
like they might be made from an up-market chameleon layer, part vac-resistant   
  
and part show. With Miles's warning about their disconnection still ringing in   
  
her ear, she didn't have time to try to figure it out. She pulled the emergency   
  
life support head set out of the acceleration couch and placed it over his head.   
  
If the air gave out before she was in a position to get to him, it was probably   
  
because she was dead anyway. It was the best she could do./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly had fastened the flowers to the outside of the ship   
  
suit. Elli thought that was comical and bit back a laugh that threatened to get   
  
out of control./P  
  
P align=justifyElli grabbed a suit of her own and began pulling it on, heaving   
  
the thing over her thighs with an athletic wriggle. She shut the laser show down   
  
and released the chain from around her neck. It floated into her hand and she   
  
threw it into the cubicle where the suits had been. It entered the magnetic   
  
field and fastened into place./P  
  
P align=justifyAnother muffled thump sounded in the corridor outside their air   
  
lock. IHope that was ours, /IElli wished. /P  
  
P align=justifyBefore pulling the suit past her hips, she took the time to   
  
inspect her skin for damage. She found a welter of little stone chip cuts.   
  
INone of it's serious, /Ishe decided.I /IStreaks of blood scattered all   
  
over. She pulled at her flesh at her waist for a bit struggling to see her back.   
  
A lot of the blood was Bruno's, but not all of it. A fair amount of her own   
  
blood was smeared over her skin./PI  
  
P align=justifyGet the cosmetics done to cover any new scars when we get   
  
through this lot/I, She decided and with that decision behind her she felt   
  
able to shrug her arms and shoulders into the suit. Elli was instantly   
  
uncomfortable where the catheter chaffed. The suit shrunk around her like   
  
shrink-wrap packaging, spreading her discomfort around the rest of her body.   
  
/P  
  
P align=justifyAt least she wouldn't bloat in vacuum. It was small comfort.   
  
The one good thing to come out of the suit's constraint was the restraint of her   
  
breasts; until that moment they were seriously impeding the movement of her   
  
arms./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly had found her way into an acceleration couch and was   
  
methodically unravelling the operating mechanisms. Elli frowned. The girl might   
  
have been virtually useless during their flight through the station, but she was   
  
no fool. From what she had seen of the dolly so far, Elli suspected the girl was   
  
working things out from scratch. Elli watched the show for a moment, wondering   
  
how bright the dolly was beneath that manufactured exterior. Real bright began   
  
to seem a possibility, and Elli was all the more suspicious because of it./P  
  
P align=justify"We secure back there yet?" Miles's voice invaded her ear. /P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah, pretty much," Elli transmitted back. She was already   
  
latching her collar ring ready for the addition of a bubble helmet at the first   
  
sign of hull breach when the ship was rocked by a much larger blast. "What was   
  
that?" she demanded./P  
  
P align=justify"OK, we're out of time people, that one wasn't one of mine,"   
  
Miles transmitted./P  
  
P align=justify"When we get out of here I want to lock-'em down, the pair of   
  
them," Elli iasked Miles through their cybernetic links. "There's something   
  
wrong with both of them. We need to talk Admiral. If this job's turned to shit   
  
like I figure it has, then we have worse trouble than a few nicks and bruises.   
  
Nothing that went down out there was anything like the briefing. Not at all, and   
  
I want to find out why and what that means for the immediate."/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah tell me about it," Miles's voice sounded rueful in her   
  
ears./P  
  
P align=justify"Those bastards meant real business back there." /P  
  
P align=justify"No joke."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli landed in the acceleration couch following a mid-air   
  
pirouette and then pulled the restraints into position with practised ease./P  
  
P align=justify"I want to know what happened during the time leading up to   
  
this fiasco."/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah," Miles said. "Well we'll discuss that with our employer   
  
when we get dirt side."/P  
  
P align=justify"Miles I want that bastard's hide. OK? Promise me."/P  
  
P align=justify"Strap in," he transmitted in return. "Big gees."/P  
  
P align=justify"Promise me."/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah OK. Now strap in! Manoeuvring now. Gee warning. OK?"/P  
  
P align=justify"How much?"/P  
  
P align=justify"All she'll do. You got ten." /P  
  
P align=justifyElli could felt the throb of the fusion drive beneath her butt,   
  
felt it through the couch. IHe meant it, ten seconds./P/I  
  
P align=justifyThey were suddenly free of the station's rotation. She craned   
  
her neck to check on the dolly, only to find that she had completely secured   
  
herself. Bruno was already secured; the geek was as well. They were all ready   
  
for…/P  
  
P align=justifySirens screamed./P  
  
P align=justifyThe world got heavy again, real heavy, and real wobbly./P  
  
P align=justifyOnce again Elli found reason to curse the lack of artificial   
  
gravity./P/BODY/HTML 


	6. Chapter 6

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P align=justifyGeoSync asteroidean station had once been a tumbling boulder,   
  
wandering majestically between the orbits of planets five and six of the Cerisan   
  
system. Enterprising developers blasted it out of the asteroid belt and then   
  
carefully left it following in a neatly circular path around Cerise III. Its   
  
purpose was to provide raw materials for the space industry and as such it had   
  
served its masters well. The rock was composed mostly of nickel iron with large   
  
quantities of frozen water embedded in its interior. As such it was a wonderful   
  
source of metal, fusion fuel and atmospheric gases for humanities push into   
  
terraforming and exploitation of the rest of the system. /P  
  
P align=justifyFollowing its successful capture, growth in the space   
  
industries had been exponential - leapfrogging over the asteroidal development   
  
so quickly that GeoSync had never been mined out. Instead it became the way   
  
station between the dome bound ground colonial development and the burgeoning   
  
space based industries. Throughout those early developments, GeoSync had grown   
  
steadily, with the accretion of space port structures and docking facilities,   
  
habitat structures and transportation arteries. The original potato shaped mass   
  
of nickel-iron still occupied the central volume, but now it was laced with   
  
corridors of silicon and carbon fibre so that it looked more like an explosion   
  
in a string factory. /P  
  
P align=justifyAt times it was visible from the ground, lit from it's own   
  
artificial sources so that it glowed like the only stationary star in the   
  
heavens. And of course it was a hive of activity, all the time busy, all the   
  
time bustling, never shutting down, never resting. /P  
  
P align=justifyThere were still hopes of constructing a space elevator. Only   
  
fifty years earlier, the space-elevator had seemed a pipe dream, but not any   
  
more. Hopes were high for the latest research into means of locking subatomic   
  
particles into a fixed quantum state. Processing power to control the shape of   
  
the field was the real bug-bear, but of all the challenges to be overcome before   
  
the technology became operable that was the most likely problem to be overcome.   
  
The operators of GeoSync planned to install an elevator as soon as materials   
  
science came up with the means. /P  
  
P align=justifyWith that in mind, the builders of GeoSync located the   
  
counter-rotating spaceport facing away from the planet with a view to one-day   
  
tying the asteroid to the ground via a railway system. And then it would really   
  
be the gateway to the stars that the planetary population had been screaming out   
  
for./P  
  
P align=justifyFunding that sort of development would never be achieved   
  
through conventional financing practices. It took a lot more money to run   
  
something like GeoSync than could be realistically charged for freight handling,   
  
so much what occurred behind GeoSync's code-locked doors could be categorised as   
  
illegal upon most settled worlds - except for Jackson's Whole which was almost a   
  
model for it's development. GeoSync's legislative neutrality was guarded   
  
jealously, often by bribery, and almost as often by more severe means. /P  
  
P align=justifyStation management maintained a steady cash flow and that   
  
maintained a high standard of living for many, but that same management   
  
philosophy contributed to the worst kind of marginal existence for the   
  
remainder. Not all of the people bred on GeoSync were considered human. Another,   
  
far more marginal, means of human existence was common, termed slavery by many,   
  
and Indentured Service by those with a vested interest in its continuity. People   
  
could be manufactured to specification. Provided you could flout the generally   
  
adopted anti-genetic engineering moratorium. They could manufacture anything you   
  
could design on GeoSync - and they revelled in the notoriety that biological   
  
manufacturing capacity generated./P  
  
P align=justifyAnd then of course there were the constant incursions… /P  
  
P align=justifyThe asteroid control and security forces were regularly on high   
  
alert because one of their Indentured Service Providers was making strenuous   
  
efforts to escape. Elli Quinn and Miles Naismith (nee Vorkosigan) were only the   
  
latest to try it. They were certainly not the first or the last. But their   
  
attempt was complicated by the revelation that a number of covert Cetagandan   
  
resources had been exposed in the security scare that followed their action.   
  
Whatever was going down on GeoSync, it was serious indeed./P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
P align=justifyElli Quinn read between the lines of a surreptitiously   
  
downloaded broadcast and felt the world figuratively and literally sinking away   
  
beneath her feet. None of her disquiet was due to the inertial effects of their   
  
departure from GeoSync. No, this was something all the more ugly. /P  
  
P align=justifyThey didn't have time to digest the implications. They only had   
  
time to strap in, hang on and shut up./P  
  
P align=justifyTheir docking ring gave an unaccustomed wobble before their   
  
shuttle burst explosively out of dock, bypassing the normal release mechanism in   
  
a blast of chemical power and destruction. Its flight was pursued by a flotsam   
  
and jetsam swarm characteristic of explosive decompression, even in the   
  
supposedly sterile environment of the free-fall docks. /P  
  
P align=justifyThe shuttle was revealed to be a slender torpedo; a basic   
  
ground to orbit vessel with its stubby delta wings permanently deployed as   
  
though for aerodynamic operation. In space they were a needless decoration, as   
  
was the plane's streamlining, but adding mechanisms for deployment and storage   
  
of aerodynamic aids cost money, not to mention the interior space that might be   
  
better served as cargo volume. Financial considerations meant that the   
  
retraction mechanisms were left on the drawing board./P  
  
P align=justifyThe shuttle fusion drive ignited, flaring like a miniature sun   
  
lancing a trail of devastated subatomic particles across several eye-watering   
  
kilometres. /P  
  
P align=justifyIn the wake of the shuttles precipitous departure, automatic   
  
decompression bulkheads launched explosively, released by the intervention of   
  
the host processor struggling to prevent the total loss of sections of the   
  
spaceport adjacent to where the shuttle had previously been docked. Emergency   
  
sirens blared throughout the habitat. Emergency response teams went to work.   
  
Water was pumped through huge pipes to stabilise the oscillations in the station   
  
now that it was unbalanced./P  
  
P align=justifyOn board the wildly tumbling shuttle, the corporate extraction   
  
team lay incarcerated in acceleration couches. Alarms screamed about personnel   
  
restraint only to go unacknowledged. The shuttle tumbled dizzyingly through a   
  
hundred and fifty degrees before the drive ignited seriously, and they began   
  
accelerating with a vengeance. /P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
P align=justifyCrushed beneath the weight of her chest, Elli Quinn read the   
  
datastream pouring into her ear-eye, and grimaced in preparation. She shifted   
  
her incoming feed from the data node to the visual processor and took her input   
  
from the forward facing cameras. The exterior world came channelled to her   
  
through laser imagery that was fed directly into her eye. She might as well have   
  
been out there, strapped to the nose of the shuttle./P  
  
P align=justifyMiles had the shuttle perform a violent pirouette and then   
  
blasted precipitously downward, lining them up nose first at the orb that was   
  
Cerise. /P  
  
P align=justifyInside the life support cocoon, medical air supplies deployed   
  
from the couch structure, fastened over their mouths like hungry predators   
  
feeding./P  
  
P align=justifyTheir acceleration climbed to four gees almost instantly,   
  
crushing-ly and then amazingly it grew worse, finally reaching six gees with the   
  
drive straining for more, while the ever-present vibration of the drive tubes   
  
became a roar that threatened to engulf everyone. The world developed black   
  
boundaries in Elli's view. Her labouring heart failed to provide enough   
  
oxygenated blood for her brain to maintain peripheral vision. /P  
  
P align=justifyMiles turned trajectory control over to a tactical response   
  
routine in the autopilot AI. Acceleration became highly erratic, and as often as   
  
not they were blasting laterally as much as longitudinally. Pre-programmed   
  
randomised vector controlled the drive to prevent lock-on by a targeting laser.   
  
/P  
  
P align=justifyElli Quinn knew what they were attempting, understood it on an   
  
intellectual level, but she still struggled to contain her panic. She hated   
  
things like that, tactical situations that were out of her control. /P  
  
P align=justifyBlind reliance on code combined with the lack of any sort of   
  
sexual release in the aftermath of blow infusion meant she was an angry   
  
frustrated and frightened girl, huddled in the cushioned confines of an   
  
acceleration couch. She could have cried or wept, anything to get out of the   
  
shitty mess that she found herself in. Except that opening her mouth would   
  
probably dislocate her jaw./P  
  
P align=justifyElli decided that it would be a real bastard if the tactical   
  
and strategic routine on board the combat processor had the same random number   
  
sequence programmed into a look up table somewhere. That was not a thought she   
  
entertained with any enthusiasm. After that first startled laugh she felt the   
  
need to cry or scream return redoubled. She wasn't sure which was worse. /PI  
  
P align=justifyIt's all software from here on,/I she bemoaned. INo chance   
  
for people to intervene./I And she was damned if that was a situation she   
  
found tolerable./P  
  
P align=justifyThe planetary grew visibly larger before her eyes; such was the   
  
intensity of their powered plummet and rushed it at them alarmingly. Elli felt   
  
the need to scream bubbling in her chest. And then the world was gone, smeared   
  
to port before finally disappearing out of the view cone of the camera./P  
  
P align=justifyWith the planet sort of behind them, acceleration dropped for a   
  
while, removing some of the discomfort. IStill a bit above three gees all the   
  
same/I, Elli figured/P  
  
P align=justify"What's with all that noise back there?" Miles demanded, free   
  
to make small talk at last. "I've got alarms all over the board, and only half   
  
of them relate to our tactical situation?"/P  
  
P align=justifyIf nothing else the question provided Elli with an opportunity   
  
to do something other than contemplate her frailty. "Nano-technology alarm,"   
  
Elli explained through their sub-vocal link. "The dolly turns out to be carrying   
  
a heap of new gear, and we have nada data on it in storage."/P  
  
P align=justifyThat got Miles' attention. "Not even a hint? Nothing   
  
experimental?"/P  
  
P align=justifyElli would have shaken her head except that was a good way to   
  
accumulate a strained neck, curtesy of her own inertia. "Nothing."/P  
  
P align=justify"It gets better and better, this job."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli released a bitter laugh through clenched teeth. "Better   
  
than what?" Her jaw muscles hurt with the effort./P  
  
P align=justify"Beats being dead," Miles provided by way of editorial   
  
commentary. "A job like this."/P  
  
P align=justifyAcceleration climbed again. The world got a bit blacker around   
  
the edges, black dots began obliterating Elli's view of the world. A bunch of   
  
little numbers in the base of her view field read seven-and-some-change gees.   
  
Her couch aligned on the new axis so she endured the weight from seven of her   
  
breasts pressing down on her, forcing the air from her lungs so she thought she   
  
might never breath again. She could feel her ribs bending under the weight,   
  
could feel her cheeks trying to slide into her ears, and her stomach trying to   
  
hide in her spine./P  
  
P align=justifyFrom somewhere, off to one side of her she could hear someone   
  
moaning./P  
  
P align=justifyAnd then the acceleration ceased. Elli though she was going to   
  
be thrown from the acceleration couch for one panicky moment./P  
  
P align=justifyAcceleration alarms sounded again. Elli groaned aloud. The   
  
acceleration crashed back, almost at right angles to the previous impost. Their   
  
couches swung again, realigned. Elli would have continued to groan but to open   
  
her mouth might have meant dislocation of her jaw. The shuttle stabilised   
  
again./P  
  
P align=justify"It's only a matter of time," she managed to gasp out, "before   
  
that happens the way this lot is going."/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah but what a ride."/P  
  
P align=justify"Permission to speak freely Admiral," she asked. /P  
  
P align=justify"Denied."/P  
  
P align=justify"I figured as much."/P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
P align=justifyTheir dizzying ride dragged on for almost half an hour,   
  
pitching them through a sequence of random bumps and dives. The shuttle groaned   
  
and protested, so much so that Elli was sure they were going to break something.   
  
She fought nausea, fought the acceleration stresses, fought with Miles and most   
  
of all she fought to restrain a growing gibbering panic that threatened to   
  
bubble up and obliterate sense./P  
  
P align=justifyFor distraction, Elli followed their vector using a holographic   
  
representation lased into her retina through her ear-eye set. /P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
P align=justifyFrom the dock at GeoSync their shuttle dived planetward,   
  
plummeting under power from almost forty thousand kilometres out. They passed   
  
within a few hundred kilometres of the atmosphere before spearing out from the   
  
daylight side of the planet and into it's shadow. /P  
  
P align=justifyNight stole their view when they entered the penumbra. It was a   
  
short-lived relief. The glare from the K-6 primary reappeared when they came   
  
lurching back out of the planet's shadow, moving into a much higher orbital   
  
path, now on the opposite side from where they began. /P  
  
P align=justifyAnd then finally, their acceleration dropped to a steady one   
  
gee, held there for more than half an hour so Miles could regain control of   
  
their wild trajectory. /P  
  
P align=justify"OK. We're out of range now," Miles transmitted finally. With   
  
the manic antics of the drive back under control, the vibration that permeated   
  
the ship dropped to the same levels that Elli had come to expect from their   
  
little, outmoded ground to orbit ship. "We're clear on radar," Miles   
  
announced./P  
  
P align=justifyThe relaxation of the drive was nice, but…/P  
  
P align=justify"I don't like that," Elli complained./P  
  
P align=justify"What?" C.D said tersely./P  
  
P align=justify"Why aren't they after us? Surely they had something on stand   
  
by. Some sort of armed pursuit?"/P  
  
P align=justify"They were probably fooled by that massive explosion we left   
  
behind us. And after that, the drive flare was aimed at right angles to the   
  
planet. What with the EMP and our drive being aimed outward, we were pretty hard   
  
to see."/P  
  
P align=justify"What?" this time it was Elli's turn to protest the lack of   
  
information. "Explosion? …Admiral," she added belatedly./P  
  
P align=justify"Detonated an antimatter bomb, just when we were at our closest   
  
approach. They got a good shot, got us; that's what they think. Hopefully, any   
  
way. At least for long enough for us to get to the ground."/P  
  
P align=justify"Oh," was all the reply she managed./P  
  
P align=justifyFinally, blessedly, an alarm sounded and then the drive effort   
  
diminished. They were in orbit. Blessed free fall. Elli might have sung, or   
  
howled for joy. Or just howled./P  
  
P align=justifyIt was safe for her to move about, check up on things./P  
  
P align=justifyIt dawned on her belatedly that the dolly was being awfully   
  
quiet./P  
  
P align=justifyElli released the restraints in her acceleration couch and   
  
drifted; intent on checking each of her fellow travellers. While winging her way   
  
to Bruno's slot, Elli checked the status of the dolly; read the acceleration   
  
couch monitor station and found out that the girl was tranked out. All read-outs   
  
were in the green though. Not that the dolly had a lot of say in the matter,   
  
Elli was sure. Miles would have seen to that./P  
  
P align=justifyElli wished she had the brains to do the same thing. Being   
  
alive and lucid through that little conflagration had been altogether too much   
  
to bear. She was still a while away from feeling she could keep lunch down, let   
  
alone enjoy a mellow moment. /P  
  
P align=justifyElli drifted over to the next acceleration couch, checked on   
  
Bruno, frowned at the vital sign read-outs given off by the chair./P  
  
P align=justify"Bruno's not in a good way back here," she transmitted through   
  
to the cockpit, to Miles hoping for… IWhat, exactly?/P/I  
  
P align=justify"I've got his vitals up live," Miles admitted. "And yeah, he's   
  
not healthy, lost a lot of blood. His suit is calling for whole plasma." IThat   
  
was a real bad sign./I "How are our other passengers?"/P  
  
P align=justifyElli took a quick glance at the read-out from the geek's   
  
acceleration couch control processor./P  
  
P align=justify"The geek is out, but not shocky, probably be OK. The dolly is   
  
under a trank. Did you do that?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah, spiked her air supply."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli figured that. "We have things to discuss. You and me.   
  
Important stuff. OK? Like; what's with all the gear in her? You have any   
  
idea."/P  
  
P align=justify"It's all news to me too. Probably a lot of need to know."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli couldn't let that pass without challenge. "I think I want   
  
to know," she said. "Think we need to know. I'm curious."/P  
  
P align=justifyThe cockpit was separated from the passenger compartment by an   
  
irising bulkhead. After Elli knocked, Miles released the interlock and enabled   
  
the door between the compartments to be accessed from the outside. Elli pulled   
  
herself through the iris and floated into the copilot's couch. She waited for it   
  
to latch around her and anchor her in place before focussing on the real issues.   
  
The important stuff, like… /P  
  
P align=justifyThere he was… Miles Beside her again. Elli felt the same catch   
  
in her gut, the same discomforting twinge that she always felt when she saw   
  
Miles in the flesh. He was his usual beautiful self. Physically imperfect,   
  
hunched and almost dwarfish, barely one and a half metres tall. He had the most   
  
mobile face and the most aware eyes of any man she had even known, and when the   
  
pressures of command were not upon him, she knew him very well, knew every   
  
insignificant imperfection./P  
  
P align=justify"You know what curiosity did," he said./P  
  
P align=justify"There's no feline genes in me," Elli chided. The combination   
  
of a blood stream full of blow and the memories of how they often together made   
  
their current circumstances all the more painful./P  
  
P align=justify"You want I should wake her?" Miles asked, bringing Elli back   
  
to the present./P  
  
P align=justifyShe nodded with inappropriate enthusiasm. "Please," she said.   
  
Anything to change the subject. /P  
  
P align=justify"I think it's time we had a discussion with our friends."/P  
  
P align=justify"Oh yes please."/P  
  
P align=justifyMiles nodded blandly. "New air coming."/P  
  
P align=justifyA moment passed in awkward silence. Behind the cockpit   
  
bulkhead, the dolly groaned. Elli pulled out of the co-pilots acceleration couch   
  
and swam back into the passenger compartment, falling freely through the cabin   
  
air./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly heaved and drew one huge breath, sucking air as   
  
though she thought she may never get another chance, and then coughed it back   
  
out. Her breasts stretched the skin-tight confines of the ship's suit./P  
  
P align=justifyElli finally drifted within arms reach of the dolly's couch.   
  
She reached out and caught her flight, swung in an arc until her legs fetched up   
  
against the couch supports./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly's eyes flicked open. She looked around, eyes wide,   
  
unsure of where she was. Elli made sure she was visible to the girl./P  
  
P align=justify"We're out," Elli said laconically. "Delivered as requested.   
  
Now do you want to explain what that was all about?"/P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly looked around in confusion, taking in the interior of   
  
the shuttle, the unfamiliar face floating beside her. She seemed to sink in on   
  
herself when she realised what had happened, remembering the flight and the   
  
fight and the tumble into space./P  
  
P align=justify"It's all so complicated," she said eventually. "I don't know   
  
where to start."/P  
  
P align=justifyFor some reason that came as no surprise to Elli. She pulled   
  
herself into one of the accelerations couches arranged around the passenger   
  
compartment and secured her self in. "Let's start with a name," she said. "Beats   
  
the snot out of calling you dolly all the time. Mine's Elli."/P  
  
P align=justify"Is that what I am?" the dolly asked. "A dolly?"/P  
  
P align=justifyNow that was a question and a half. Elli blinked a couple of   
  
times while she reset her mind around that concept. "You're a manufactured human   
  
being," Elli speculated. "But not manufactured for that purpose then…? Perhaps.   
  
I wonder what purpose you were built to serve," she mused only half out loud.   
  
Physically she was a classic dolly clone, but she was brighter than the   
  
requirements of the job, that was already established./P  
  
P align=justifyThe dolly looked confused. "But I am a real human being," she   
  
said, more to her self than to Elli. "I have a life."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli reached out and used one elegant finger to break the seal   
  
on the dolly's ship suit. She pointed to the identification tattoo, and beneath   
  
it, an implant under the skin. It was the mark that the fourth flower had   
  
covered. "That sort of gives it away," she said. "Vat grown."/P  
  
P align=justify"If you look closely you will see the surgical scars," the   
  
dolly explained after a moment./P  
  
P align=justify"OK," Elli nodded, now sure that there was a story in there   
  
that she wasn't being told. "I think we need to talk, you and I."/P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
P align=justify"My name is Madison," the dolly's voice droned softly. Elli   
  
nodded once for her to continue. The woman wouldn't meet Elli's gaze, which was   
  
a touch beyond annoying. "Madison DeSoto," she added, "and I grew up on that   
  
asteroid, part of a research combine. My," she hesitated, as though the word was   
  
unfamiliar or there was something unusual about the connotations it held for   
  
her, something new, "my father worked there. His research was important in some   
  
way. He was bound by secrecy agreements and didn't speak about it much but I   
  
heard things... There were nasty things going on. Threats. We weren't safe any   
  
more. Dad wanted to get me out. And he found that he couldn't do that. Not   
  
easily anyway. The only thing he could organise, with any chance of succeeding,   
  
was you guys… Or someone just like you. As it was, the whole escape turned out   
  
harder than we thought it would." She broke off and then continued in a much   
  
smaller voice. "My father is usually better at organising things than that…"/P  
  
P align=justifyElli caught the hesitation, made a guess. "He was your father   
  
then? You didn't sound real convinced."/P  
  
P align=justifyMadison was worse than uncertain; she looked terrified. "I   
  
thought so, when I was little, and then when I got older, it was obvious that we   
  
shared some genes, but…"/P  
  
P align=justify"No second parent," Elli guessed./P  
  
P align=justify"Not any one that I could identify."/P  
  
P align=justify"There was one? You're sure? You aren't just a chromosome   
  
modified clone?"/P  
  
P align=justify"I suspect there was another parent." She lapsed into silence   
  
for a while. Lost in memories./P  
  
P align=justifyElli had to prompt her to continue. A lot of thought was going   
  
on behind those perfect eyes and that china doll perfect face and the delay was   
  
the sort of thing that might have been purpose designed to wind Elli up.. A lot   
  
of the story was coming out haltingly, as though it was being made up on the run   
  
or was being tested before being delivered. And that was the thing that most   
  
irritated Elli, the fact that the whole story smelled like a wind up./P  
  
P align=justify"You're probably right about me being a manufactured human,"   
  
Madison admitted finally. "It takes a bit of getting used to. It's not an idea   
  
that I ever considered before, but…"/PI  
  
P align=justifyThis isn't going anywhere…/I "So what was your father's   
  
work?" Elli asked trying to break the girl out of what threatened to become a   
  
deepening introspection. What Elli needed was information, more of it and fast,   
  
not a bonding session between a couple of girls./P  
  
P align=justify"I don't know really," Madison said. "I had a few ideas from   
  
stuff that I heard when he was speaking with his workmates, but not a clear   
  
idea."/PI  
  
P align=justifyIt had to be something to do with the father,/I Elli was   
  
pretty sure of that. "A hint maybe…" she suggested. IWhat could the old guy   
  
achieve by filling her head with that shit? The only way to tell might be to   
  
identify what it did./P/I  
  
P align=justify"No," Madison said slowly, "not enough to be sure."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli decided to tackle the real issue, right up front, no   
  
messing. "So what is all the nano interface gear in you for?" she asked. "What   
  
does it do?"/P  
  
P align=justifyMadison looked at Elli, thoroughly confused./P  
  
P align=justify"Your head is full of gear," Elli waved her arm around to   
  
indicate the shuttle's security system. "None of it on file, all of it a bit of   
  
a mystery. So what is it?"/P  
  
P align=justify"I don't know," Madison said and this time there was a hint of   
  
anger in her voice, as though she resented the interrogation. As far as Elli was   
  
concerned it was about time the girl bit. "I was sick a lot as a child, and they   
  
had to operate a lot. It probably regulates my biochemistry."/P  
  
P align=justifyElli looked the dolly body up and down. "I doubt that somehow,"   
  
she said laconically. "You listening to this Admiral?"/P  
  
P align=justifyHis voice came through the ear-eye link. "Yeah."/P  
  
P align=justify"What do you make of it?" she asked out loud. Madison followed   
  
those conversational fragment that she could hear and wore a worried frown./P  
  
P align=justify"I think the story stinks, personally."/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah that was what I thought. You do gear. You got any ideas   
  
what it's really for?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Give me a little while to research. Let you know what turns   
  
up."/P  
  
P align=justify"How soon can you get to it?"/P  
  
P align=justify"It important?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah. I don't like having something like that on board without   
  
knowing exactly what it can do. You know? Not the sort of thing that leads to   
  
happy sleeps."/P  
  
P align=justify"Get onto it for you."/P  
  
P align=justify"Ta. Earn brownie points."/P  
  
P align=justify"Ten more and I get a fairy."/P  
  
P align=justify"No, it's an elf." Elli smiled for the first time since the   
  
excrement hit the ventilation impeller back in the bar. "We likely to stay in   
  
free fall for a while?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah. Not going to need a burn for a while. Orbit's pretty   
  
good."/P  
  
P align=justify"It pretty quiet out there now?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Yeah it'll be a few days before they work out that the debris   
  
from the explosion didn't include enough bits to make up a whole shuttle and   
  
certainly contained no organic bits. Then it'll get interesting again. We'll be   
  
long gone and untraceable by then."/P  
  
P align=justify"How soon can I have your assessment on her gear then?"/P  
  
P align=justify"Couple of hours."/P  
  
P align=justify"That'll be good. I'm going to see if I can do anything for   
  
Bruno," Elli said, as much for Madison as for Miles/P  
  
P align=justify"Check the med case," Miles transmitted. "There's a diagnostic   
  
processor in there. I don't know how well supplied it is, maybe it's got   
  
something for him."/P  
  
P align=justify"Good thinking," Elli pushed off and floated across the   
  
passenger compartment./P  
  
P align=justifyThe geek stirred. Elli looked suspiciously at him for a moment   
  
and wondered what to do about him. He was a complication to this whole mess that   
  
she could well do without./PI  
  
P align=justifyNot that it wasn't complicated enough already mind./P/I  
  
P align=justify./P/BODY/HTML 


	7. Chapter 7

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PCrunched into a nastily uncomfortable looking sprawl, Bruno was obviously in   
  
a bad way. Elli looked at the tangle of arms and legs and wondered what she   
  
should do about it. If the acceleration couch security released, she might never   
  
get the guy back in there, so she restricted her attention to the placement of   
  
his limbs. Despite lacking confidence in the results, she tried - hard - to make   
  
him a bit more comfortable. In the end she achieved little and so she flicked a   
  
quick sneer at the slightly reduced tangle of his arms and legs. She decided   
  
that she had done as much as she could./P  
  
PMadison DeSoto spent time staring into space, not that there was much to see,   
  
the girl remained strapped inside a tin cigar with windows that showed empty   
  
space. The globe of the planet lay beneath the fuselage. Both of it's moons   
  
might be out there somewhere, Elli thought, but she had no idea at all whether   
  
the woman would be able to see it through that porthole. But then again, she   
  
obviously has a lot to think about./P  
  
PElli floated over to the compartment where their bits-and-pieces supplies   
  
were being kept. After a fight with the latching, she broke out the medical   
  
system and then peered at it thoughtfully - far from happy with what she found.   
  
She floated back to Bruno and began searched around the acceleration couch for   
  
the interface socket, found it under the chair and then struggled to get the   
  
unit plugged in. It was a tight fit and fought her efforts for a while. /P  
  
PInstructions loaded into her ear-eye./P  
  
PShe fitted a series of bulging bladders to a clamp on the couch and then   
  
began plumbing them together by matching iconic representations. All complete,   
  
she hit the go icon and watched while a display unfolded to become a holographic   
  
image in the air above Bruno. It delivered a series of read-outs that made no   
  
sense to her. In fact they weren't in a language that Elli recognised. /P  
  
PShe blinked at the display for an uncomprehending instant./P  
  
PThe only good part she made of the display was the fact that none of the   
  
read-outs were presented in red, although a few of them were amber. She took   
  
that for a positive sign. Maybe…/P  
  
P"Admiral," she transmitted to the cockpit while staring at the read outs   
  
again and frowning. "Where did we get the shuttle fitted out for this   
  
jaunt?"/P  
  
P"Old Earth. Indian subcontractor."/P  
  
P"So this language here would be Hindi then?"/P  
  
P"Oh… Right…"/P  
  
P"So why've we got a med kit in a foreign language that we can't understand?   
  
Like that would make it pretty useless."/P  
  
P"We need to speak with our Quartermaster."/P  
  
P"As soon as we get back to the fleet."/P  
  
PAn hour passed in tedium. Elli spent most of the time hovering by Bruno's   
  
side, willing the med-kit to give off positive news. Nothing much changed in his   
  
situation. /P  
  
PMadison DeSoto spent the time just drifting about and nursing whatever demons   
  
she carried. Nothing much changed there either./P  
  
P"Elli," Miles intoned. "Get up here. I've got something to show you,   
  
something that you might want to see." /P  
  
P"What?"/P  
  
P"I've run a few things through a sim, based on the shape and positioning of   
  
those implants of hers. Looks real interesting."/P  
  
PThe urgency in his tone caught her ear. "Yeah, in a sec," Elli replied. She   
  
turned in the air and faced back towards Madison. The other woman watched Elli   
  
intently, her manner suggesting a question. "We'll see if we can get to the   
  
bottom of what's going on here for you."/P  
  
PMadison nodded, but said nothing./P  
  
PElli pulled herself through the bulkhead and into the cockpit. Rearranged her   
  
arms and legs so she could tumble into the cushioned confines of the co-pilot's   
  
couch./P  
  
PMiles had a holo-display floating in the air in front of him for her benefit.   
  
/P  
  
P"What is it?" she asked./P  
  
P"Enhanced image of the thing in her head," Miles said. "It's still way short   
  
of detail, but this is the best that the microwave radar could get us. I think a   
  
heap of it's biological."/P  
  
P"How can you tell?" /P  
  
PMicrowave radar could not distinguish between one bodily organ and another,   
  
and they hadn't brought MRI security gear up to orbit, too long a lead-time to   
  
get it fitted./P  
  
P"I can't really. I'm just guessing. Looking at the way it's internal circuits   
  
appear to extrude i/o gear and extrapolating which parts of the brain are   
  
interfaced."/P  
  
PElli shook her head, not fully understanding what they were looking at, even   
  
struggling with the implications. "So what are you going to do?"/P  
  
P"Ask her to participate in a few tests," Miles suggested buoyantly./P  
  
PElli grinned wryly. "You mean for me to ask her."/P  
  
P"Please."/P  
  
PElli heaved a heavy sigh and assented. "But only because you asked so   
  
nicely."/P  
  
P"I only said please, because I want that elf. Only nine more brownie points   
  
to go."/P  
  
PElli's face broke into a tired, sad smile. "I love elves myself," she said   
  
darkly, "but I couldn't eat a whole one."/P  
  
PMiles gave a sickly grin that was more an honour guard for her joke than any   
  
real representation of amusement. "Run a detailed diagnostic check on Bruno for   
  
me while you're back there, and also over the geek. I don't have nice news on   
  
the vital stats read outs from either of them."/P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
PMadison DeSoto looked long and hard at Elli but she seemed to be considering   
  
the request. "What would it involve?" she asked finally./P  
  
P"I'm not sure," Elli answered. "But I can tell you that Admiral Naismith   
  
doesn't do anything to hurt people unless there is no other way."/P  
  
P"This is the same guy who mined the passages of the space station where I   
  
grew up?" Madison asked. Her tone conveyed a touch of disbelief./P  
  
P"OK, yeah there was that, but I don't think anyone was hurt."/P  
  
PMadison looked significantly at the reclining bodies of Bruno and the geek.   
  
/P  
  
PElli felt a flush of anger and a twinge of consternation. Neither emotion was   
  
really justified, because the girl was right, and Elli already felt guilty as   
  
hell without the reminder. "Just talk to him," she said, more angrily than might   
  
be appropriate. "Don't agree to anything unless you know exactly what's   
  
involved." /P  
  
P"What is all this about?"/P  
  
PElli shook her head. "As far as I knew, our job was just to collect you and   
  
deliver you to the new owner of the data that you're carrying. That's all we're   
  
obliged to do. Pick you, and your data, up and drop you off. Although what that   
  
data might be…" Elli shrugged. The woman came on board with a bunch of flower   
  
stick-ons and nothing else. So…/P  
  
P"The implants?" Madison guessed./P  
  
PElli pursed her lips and nodded. "Not the way it was told to me before, but   
  
we're just about certain of it now."/P  
  
P"That can't be it," Madison said heatedly. "I know what you're thinking. I   
  
came along with you wearing a set of flower stick-ons. They're all of my worldly   
  
possessions now. I don't have any data. Dad organised to get me out of GeoSync.   
  
Me, not some data. Me."/P  
  
P"Not the job we were contracted to perform."/P  
  
P"So you just assume that it has to be the implants." Madison laughed   
  
defiantly. "It wasn't like that. I told you how it was."/P  
  
P"We'll see. That's all we're trying to do. Figure out what the hell is going   
  
on here. Talk to Miles. Clear up the confusion for us. Besides, what else have   
  
you got to do?"/P  
  
P"Yeah OK." Madison conceded reluctantly and then made her way through the   
  
bulkhead into the cockpit./P  
  
PElli returned her attention to Bruno, loading a detailed diagnostic into the   
  
acceleration couch processor. It ran a series of extrapolations based on trends   
  
in biochemical data and fed the information back to Elli through the ear-eye   
  
set. There was nothing she could do. The read outs from the couch were still in   
  
either the green or in the amber. None of them had moved. What the hell was   
  
Miles so worried about?/P  
  
PThe geek gave another moan and lolled a bit. Elli allowed herself to float   
  
closer so she could see to him. His vitals said he was still out, sleeping   
  
rather than unconscious, which made a big difference. Probably wasn't concussed,   
  
not too bad, anyway. Not that Elli had a lot of sympathy for the guy. She   
  
wondered what he thought he was doing tagging along with her. /P  
  
PHe was the one who made most of the contact, She reminded herself. So what is   
  
he?/P  
  
PElli turned so she could look toward the cockpit where Madison DeSoto was   
  
holed up with Miles and then back at the geek. Something was not right about   
  
either of them. Probably working together, she decided, and then experienced a   
  
major chill./P  
  
PElli shook it off. It was only someone walking over her grave, no biggie.   
  
Instead she read the geek's data in a bit more detail. Miles had turned off the   
  
sedative. He would sleep on for a while and then, when he woke, they would have   
  
the chance to find out what his game was./P  
  
PMaybe…/P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
P"How long is this orbit?" Elli asked Miles. He had been cloistered in the   
  
cockpit with the dolly for a long time and Elli felt pretty isolated. The vigil   
  
at Bruno's bedside was also wearing a bit thin and Elli was not one for long   
  
periods of inactivity. She was an action kind of girl and there wasn't a lot   
  
happening. She was not the sort of girl who liked to be on the outside of the   
  
communications loop, either./P  
  
P"Twelve hours," he transmitted back./P  
  
P"So then we're back at the station and getting our arses shot off?" she sort   
  
of guessed. It didn't sound right, and she knew it as soon as she said it./P  
  
P"No, actually. By then the station will be half the world away, and we   
  
wouldn't catch up to it for another twelve hours. Before that happens we'll be   
  
safely back in the atmosphere and under civilian air-traffic control."/P  
  
P"Smartarse," she chided./P  
  
P"Do I get an elf?"/P  
  
P"You don't even get a brownie."/P  
  
P"Guess not. How's Bruno?"/P  
  
P"Not good. The acceleration couch and the emergency medical kit are holding   
  
him together. 'Bout all it can do. Hold him. Lot of bloods gone missing and   
  
there's not enough plasma to keep him running. The bleeding has stopped though,   
  
which is good, but we need to get that wound stapled so it won't open again.   
  
Re-entry might be a major drama. On top of that we're short of anti-bac nano,   
  
and there's some wicked new stuff floating around out there now. Haven't heard   
  
of anything new or nasty on GeoSync so he's probably OK now, but back on Earth,   
  
it might get ugly."/P  
  
P"Well aware Elli."/P  
  
P"He needs a medic. A real one."/P  
  
P"All we got is you. We won't be on the ground for a while yet."/P  
  
P"Admiral… Miles, I'm doing all I can, but he's in a bad way. Is there some   
  
way to short circuit."/P  
  
P"No. None."/P  
  
P"Damn…"/P  
  
P"How's the geek by the way?"/P  
  
P"Don't know exactly. His vitals are OK. He should be up and about, but he   
  
isn't."/P  
  
P"I was worried about that. I thought he might have been in a coma."/P  
  
P"Possible I suppose, but there's nothing physically wrong with him. The guy   
  
must have a head like a bowling ball, even sounded like one when he hit the   
  
deck. Should have a fractured skull, but… No, nothing. Checks out just about   
  
fine. Although his metabolic state is pretty sluggish, not like he was a sleep,   
  
just a bit slow."/P  
  
P"The more I think about this," Miles said slowly, "the more sure I am that we   
  
should have left him behind."/P  
  
PElli laughed. "Miles I seem to recall that you were the one that suggested   
  
that we bring him along."/P  
  
P"Yeah but if we hadn't then Bruno might have been OK now."/P  
  
P"Water under the bridge Admiral. Can only do things that effect the future.   
  
What's gone…"/P  
  
P"Is gone. I should be the one who tells you that sort of thing Elli."/P  
  
PElli thought of other loose ends. "What has the dolly decided?" she   
  
asked./P  
  
P"She's being tested as we speak. Be one of life's more interesting   
  
moments."/P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
PElli arranged herself so the axis of her body lined up with both Madison   
  
DeSoto and also with Miles - rough enough. There was a dopey grin on Miles's   
  
face, and like all of his expressions, it was an interesting one./P  
  
P"All right Miles" Elli asked. "What is it? What are those things in her   
  
head?"/P  
  
PMiles turned from his blind contemplation of Madison and faced toward Elli.   
  
"I think I've triggered something," he said. His tone was sort of apologetic,   
  
like he had done something wrong. "I'm sorry about making a mess of it."/P  
  
PElli looked between the two of them, confused. " We can have a bout of true   
  
confessions at a later date, OK? What the hell is it in there?"/P  
  
PMiles drew a breath to answer, and then shut his mouth like a goldfish. He   
  
wasn't the one who answered Elli's question./P  
  
P"The implant carries the personality of her father's former - and now   
  
possibly dead - employer, and also my manufacturer," said Madison's mouth, but   
  
the words came out in a voice that was ever so slightly not-hers./P  
  
PElli blinked a few times before trusting her mouth. "Ah, ri-ight," she said   
  
in a voice that carried a lack of credulity like it was a bucket./P  
  
P"Isn't that amazing?" Miles said. He waited for Elli to do something or say   
  
something, kick something or punch something. /P  
  
PInstead she just stared at him. /P  
  
P"I thought that sort of thing was impossible," Miles said. "But there it   
  
is."/P  
  
P"Oh wonderful," agreed Elli without giving any hint that she thought it was a   
  
stupid idea other than the fact that her face radiated cynicism like a neon   
  
light. "Maybe it is impossible," she said finally. "Perhaps this is nothing more   
  
than a big chain-pull."/P  
  
P"No. Sorry. See, I know what's going on here. Elli, meet Mayberry Lui.   
  
Mayberry, meet Elli Quinn."/P  
  
PMadison DeSoto bowed, a neat feat in zero gee. And yeah, it was a different   
  
personality animating that body. Even cynical Elli could see that./P  
  
PIt had been memories - not skills - memories that Elli had seen in action   
  
when the girl was preparing for free fall./P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
PA file scrolled past Elli Quinn's eyes, filling her head with theoretical   
  
data that was being decoded and lased directly into her retina by little laser   
  
projectors mounted in her ear-eye. It came in full colour, with illustrations   
  
and animated displays and it made startling reading. If you could believe what   
  
it has to say, that is, Elli commented to herself. /P  
  
PShe knew the guys who set up and ran the site from which Miles downloaded the   
  
data. They were pretty good, didn't often get things wrong, so she had to   
  
concede that there was a good chance they were right this time as well. She just   
  
had a hard time believing it; that was all./P  
  
PMadison/Mayberry floated past Elli, drifting through the opening in the   
  
bulkhead and back into the passenger compartment, claiming a desire to be by   
  
herself. Which might have been a good idea, except…/P  
  
PIt was not as if she could be by herself, not when she couldn't even be alone   
  
in her own head. /P  
  
PElli shook her head in sympathy before returning her attention to the virtual   
  
dissertation about the technology that lay buried beneath that blonde hair./P  
  
PAnd on a more practical note, there were a couple of things to be said for   
  
getting Madison/Mayberry out of the way. Her absence at least left Miles and   
  
Elli alone to discuss the issues associated with their snatch and run and the   
  
mess that seemed to come down with it. /P  
  
PBut there was also another, more personal reason why Elli felt happier to see   
  
Madison DeSoto safely out of the way. It had more to do with the way Madison's   
  
personality shift freaked Elli out. It was seriously spooky watching the way the   
  
set of her face changed. /P  
  
P"Does she realise what's going on, do you think?" Elli asked Miles She had a   
  
hard time looking him in the eye. Most of her attention was focussed on   
  
digesting the information that was still scrolling past her eyes. "This is   
  
really heavy duty corporate garbage here Miles Really heavy stuff. I mean this   
  
is so bad, they should be able to smell it from Earth and I'm really not sure   
  
that I want to be involved in this mess. Why did we take this job on?"/P  
  
P"Cash."/P  
  
P"Shee-it. We must be fore cash strapped than I thought. You had no idea that   
  
this job was going to turn out like this?"/P  
  
PMiles shook his head. "None whatsoever."/P  
  
PElli read some more. The sequestration was experimental. 'No successful   
  
trials had been reported.' "What the hell is she going to do? What were they   
  
planning to do to her, do you reckon?"/P  
  
P"God knows," Miles said. "I don't like being tied up in stuff like this.   
  
There's serious money and possible grubby politics in this mess. They might not   
  
stop at anything to get what they want out of this. I mean, look at her. She's   
  
nothing but a pawn in this game, and so are we. That's how big it is. I mean,   
  
she always was a pawn but, hell, this is an order of magnitude worse. She's   
  
literally nothing but a broker-ed commodity. She might have been made purely so   
  
she could be delivered to us. That being the case; she's not even a real person.   
  
I have to wonder even how old she is. When did they make her? And where did they   
  
get the personality? Stuff like that you know?"/P  
  
PElli favoured him with a look. "And what that even means in her case," she   
  
added./P  
  
P"Eh…?"/P  
  
PElli shut the data flow down. All it did was support Miles's argument that   
  
the woman drifting in the back of the shuttle was an artificially produced   
  
multiple personality. Like that was the sort of thing that would be a good idea   
  
to produce. Shit, Elli thought, summing the whole situation up in one word. Mass   
  
produced mental illness…/P  
  
P"It's, well…" Elli began hesitantly, Miles was behaving strangely around the   
  
dolly and Elli was not impressed with his newly minted paternal streak. "Her   
  
body looks to be about sixteen, seventeen years old, not much more, maybe not   
  
even that old, but the personality is constructed so that she behaves a bit   
  
older than that. Sooo," Elli drew the word out for significance, "is she the   
  
twenty five that she seems to be when you speak with her, the seventeen she   
  
looks when you look at her, or the - what - a couple of years? - that it took to   
  
grow her?"/P  
  
P"Perhaps we should ask her." Miles suggested./P  
  
PElli had another thought, something from holodramas that she had seen over   
  
the years. "Does she even know about that Mayberry Lui personality?"/P  
  
P"She does now." Miles at least had the grace to look embarrassed about that   
  
admission./P  
  
P"Aw Gawd!" Elli exclaimed. "How must she feel?"/P  
  
P"Pretty awful I would have said. Which is where this conversation started.   
  
How is she now? Can you tell?"/P  
  
PElli looked over her shoulder. "She's out there crying her eyes out." The   
  
dolly was just huddled into a foetal ball at the back of the passenger   
  
compartment, sort of partially hidden by the acceleration couches and their   
  
comatose occupants./P  
  
P"Why don't you go out there and lend some support?"/P  
  
PNow that was a good one, and it caught Elli completely off-guard. "Moi!" Her   
  
mouth dropped open comically. "What am I going to say?" Elli managed to get out.   
  
"Perhaps I should start with, 'There, there, I know just how you feel. I was a   
  
schizoid dolly once and look how I turned out'." Elli laughed bitterly. "Get   
  
real Miles It just doesn't cut it."/P  
  
P"You've got some empathy."/P  
  
P"Oh yeah, ri-ight."/P  
  
P"It's not like I can do much for her," Miles explained and the pain was   
  
obvious. "You want to talk about pain. I can tell you about that." Miles had   
  
almost his entire skeleton replaced after the brittle bones he had been born   
  
with were removed. "You have a go. Try to relate to her at least. You're female.   
  
It's something. At least you have that much in common. I mean she's going to be   
  
with us for a couple of days yet. I don't want to hand her over in a state. I   
  
mean that sort of stuff going on back there is not likely to improve if you let   
  
her stew in it."/P  
  
P"If Iwe/I let her stew in it you mean."/P  
  
P"Whatever."/P  
  
PElli gave him a look for a while, but it seemed to wash off him. /P  
  
PShe gave up and made her way aft, swimming through the bulkhead, and then   
  
giving him another look on the way through, with as much impact as the first   
  
one. He wasn't even looking at her. /P  
  
P align=center*/P  
  
P"We have," Elli Quinn said and tugged at the packages in the food locker,   
  
"chicken parmagiana." That met with a lack of enthusiasm so she pulled another   
  
packet from the locker and turned it around so she could read the label, "a beef   
  
risotto, or a…" she looked more closely to the third package, "second chicken,   
  
and," she tugged another package from the locker. She brushed coating of ice   
  
from the surface. It began melting while it floated toward the air intake-grill.   
  
"This one is a beef teriyaki. What do you want?"/P  
  
PMadison said nothing so Elli gently tossed one of the food packages toward   
  
the woman without looking to see which one it was. /P  
  
PElli was pretty sure that Madison was the personality in charge of the body   
  
throughout the last hour. Elli had picked up a few clues. The Mayberry Lui   
  
personality frowned more, and held the mouth in a different way./P  
  
PThe food package floated slowly across the intervening space before it was   
  
caught deftly./P  
  
PAnd along with the food came a conversational gambit that brought Madison   
  
DeSoto out of her shell. "What happened to him?" she asked. Her voice was   
  
pitched low so that it didn't carry forward into the cockpit. /P  
  
PDidn't take a great deal of cogitation on Elli's part to work out what   
  
subject lead to that question. Behind a wry smile, Elli wondered how pleased   
  
Miles would be about the conversational topic that finally dragged Madison out   
  
of her fugue. /P  
  
PElli eyed Madison for a moment, concerned with who might be in charge of the   
  
vocal chords at this time. Elli debated about sharing information before she   
  
answered the question. Yeah, and it wasn't going to hurt to share just this   
  
once. "Inutero soltoxin degradation," Elli answered finally, "and other nerve   
  
damage. His mother had an accident with a neuro-poison when she was carrying   
  
him. They grew him in a uterine replicator and did the best they could but he   
  
suffered from brittle bones, that wouldn't grow properly. What you see, well…   
  
That's what you get."/P  
  
PElli found herself lost in this introspection, talking for her own reasons,   
  
not for the dolly's benefit./P  
  
P"I see," Madison commented./P  
  
P"You want me to heat that for you?" Elli said and waved at the frozen food   
  
package in Madison's hands./P  
  
PThe dolly schizo looked down at the food like she didn't realise it was there   
  
and then nodded in a sort of distracted way that she had started making her own   
  
lately. Elli took the container from Madison and stuck it into a microwave   
  
heater./P  
  
PAfter a minute spent in silence, the microwave went beep. Elli released the   
  
door and took out the food. The smell hit her, right in the tastebuds. She   
  
handed the container to Madison who opened it carefully and looked at the   
  
contents doubtfully./P  
  
P"Needs to be sticky and crumb free for zero gee," Elli explained./P  
  
P"What do I eat it with?"/P  
  
P"Utensils. Yeah, hang on. There's chopsticks in that cupboard over there I   
  
think," Elli said and waved vaguely in the direction of the space beside the   
  
microwave. /P  
  
PWhile Madison began rummaging around, searching, Elli fed the second   
  
container into the microwave./P  
  
P"There's something between you two…" suggested Madison without looking across   
  
at the other woman, resuming their previous conversation where they left it   
  
off./P  
  
P"Yeah. There is," Elli agreed hesitantly./P  
  
PMadison looked searchingly at Elli. "He loves you too."/P  
  
PElli nodded. "That's me and Miles in a nut shell."/P  
  
PElli's meal was ready. She gathered it from the oven and took it out. /P  
  
P"I have taken control of this ship," said the geek. His voice seemed to come   
  
from nowhere. His statement took a moment for Elli to translate it into   
  
something with a context that she could understand. "Don't anybody make any   
  
overt moves," he instructed./PI  
  
PWould never dream of it/I, Elli thought cynically. "Cetagandan right?" Elli   
  
suggested. They were the only ones who had gear that could do that much damage   
  
without some sort of alert. /P  
  
PHe nodded. "Yes," he agreed to her guess. "You are stuck in orbit," the geek   
  
said. "I have control of the ship." His point was illustrated by the release of   
  
the acceleration couch restraints. They popped open with a malignant little   
  
click that said it all to Elli. "We wait for my team," the geek added. He looked   
  
significantly toward Madison-who-was-Mayberry at that moment./P/BODY/HTML 


End file.
